Press Release 04/05/2017
Industrial activity in the Basque Country rose by 3.1% in March 2017
The Industrial Production Index accumulated growth of 1.9% in the first three months of 2017
Industrial production of the Basque Country in March 2017 was up by 3.1% compared to the same month of 2016, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. The balance for the first quarter of 2017 closed with growth of 1.9% on the same period of 2016.
Compared to the previous month, February 2017, the industrial production of the Basque Country rose by 1.8%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.
There were positive and negative variations in the index of the major industrial sectors in March 2017 compared to March 2016. Intermediate Goods increased by 5.9%, Capital Goods grew by 2.7%, Energy was down by 2.5% and Consumer Goods as a whole fell by 0.4%. Within these, Consumer Non-Durables, which were down 2.8%, determined the drop, as Consumer Durables were up 6.4%.
The month-on-month variation for March 2017 on February 2017 was positive for all major industrial sectors, except Consumer Goods, which were down by 1.2% as a whole. Consumer Durables were down 3.2% and Consumer Non-Durables by 0.4; however, Energy rose by 5.8%, Intermediate Goods rose by 2.3% and Capital Goods were up by 0.6%.
Among the largest sectors in Basque industry, those that saw the most significant growth in the month of March 2017 in terms of year-on-year variations were: Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts, up 7.7%; Transport Material, which rose by 6.9%, and Metallurgy & Metal Products, which grew by 5.9%.
In contrast, the greatest decreases were in the sector of: Electricity, Gas & Steam, which posted a year-on-year downturn of 5.1%, Machinery & Equipment, which registered a drop of 3.7% and Food, Beverages & Tobacco, down 0.6%.
By province, year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index for the month of March showed positive results in Álava, where it increased by 2.5% and Bizkaia where it was up 7.1%. In Gipuzkoa, on the other hand, it dropped by 0.4%.
The month-on-month rate was also positive in Bizkaia, with an increase of 3.6%, and in Gipuzkoa where it grew by 1.0%, whilst in Alava it fell by 0.3% with respect to February 2017.
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
Further press releases on Industrial production index of the Basque Country (IPI)
Databank on Industrial production index of the Basque Country (IPI)