Press Release 18/11/2016

SERVICES INDEX. III/2016

In the third quarter of 2016, sales in Trade in the Basque Country rose by 3.3%, with sales in Other Market Services rising by 0.2%

The Wholesale Retail and Hotel Management & Catering Subsectors showed the highest growth

The Trade Sector, which comprises Wholesale Trade, Retail Trade and the Sale & Repair of Vehicles, saw sales increases of 3.3% in the third quarter of 2016 in constant terms, whereas the sectors that come under Other Services saw a decrease in sales of 0.2%, and this is all in relation to the same quarter of the previous year.

Compared to the previous quarter, both the Trade and Services sectors recorded a 0.7% drop, in both cases at constant prices and once seasonal effects had been eliminated.

The year-on-year trends within Trade were positive for all branches, though to different degrees: the Whole Trade sales index was up by 4.3%, the Sale Repair of Motor Vehicles was up 2.7% and Retail Trade increased by 2.0%.

In the Other Services sector, the sales index of the Hotel Management & Catering branch rose by 4.0%, Administrative Activities & Auxiliary Services was up 3.2%, and Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities increased by 0.4%, in constant terms. On the other hand, the sales index fell by 0.1% in the Information & Communications branch, and by 4.3% in the Transport & Storage branch.

By province, Álava saw sales in Trade rise by 6.2% and sales in Other Services rise by 0.3%; Bizkaia saw sales in Trade fall by 2.1% and sales in Other Services dropped by 0.7%; and, lastly, Gipuzkoa saw sales in Trade rise by 3.8% and sales in Other Services rise by 0.7%. This is all in relation to the third 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 0.7% rise in the Trade sector and a 2.3% increase in the index for Other Services. Compared to the second quarter of 2016, the index increased by 0.1% in the Trade sector and by 0.5% in Other Services, all 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