Press Release 19/05/2016
The Services Sector of the Basque Country showed an upwards trend in the first quarter of 2016
Sales in Trade increased by 2.4%, and sales for other Market Services were 4.0% higher than the previous year in real terms
During the first quarter of 2016, activity in the Services Sector was higher than in the same quarter last year as well as in quarter-on-quarter terms, according to Eustat data.
Hence, the Trade Sector, which comprises Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade and the Sale & Repair of Vehicles, saw a turnover increase of 2.4% in the first quarter of 2016, whereas the sectors that come under Other Services saw a turnover increase of 4.0%, and this is all in relation to the same quarter of the previous year once the price effect had been eliminated.
Compared with the previous quarter, there was also a rise in sales in the two major subsectors that was greater (with an increase of 1.1%) in the other services than in trade, which saw a 0.3% rise in sales once seasonal effects had been eliminated.
The year-on-year trends within Trade were positive for all sectors, though to different degrees: the Sale & Repair of Motor Vehicles was up by 11.8%, the Retail Trade sales index rose by 2.1% and the Wholesale Trade sales index rose by 1.9%.
In the section Other Services, in constant terms, the sales index for Scientific & Technical Professional Activities rose by 10.9%, in the Hotel Management & Catering sector it increased by 7.2%, in the Information & Communications sector it rose by 3.8% and in the Administrative Activities & Auxiliary Services sector it rose by 3.3%. On the other hand, the sales index fell by 0.9% in the Transport & Storage sector.
By province, the trend in the trade sector in Gipuzkoa stood out, as did the trend of Other Services in Álava and Bizkaia. Specifically, in Álava, trade rose by 3.3%, and other services rose by 4.6%. In Bizkaia, trade rose by 1.3%, and other services rose by 5.4%. In Gipuzkoa, there was a 3.9% rise in trade, and an increase of 1.2% for other services. These figures are all in comparison with the first quarter of 2015 once the price effect had been discounted.
The index of employed people in the Basque Country rose on a year-on-year basis for both indexes, with a 1.0% rise in the trade sector and a 1.7% increase in the index for other services. In relation to the fourth quarter of 2015, the index rose by 0.5% in other services, whilst the index for trade decreased by 0.2%, in deseasonalised terms.
For further information:
Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel: 945 01 75 62
Press releases on the Internet on the services index of the Basque Country
Databank on the services index of the Basque Country