Press Release 28/09/2017

FOREIGN TRADE UNIT VALUE INDICES - IVU. II/2017

Export prices fell by 0.5% in the second quarter of 2017 compared with the previous quarter

In the case of imports, prices decreased by 1.9%

During the second quarter of 2017 the prices of exports posted a decrease of 0.5% compared with the previous quarter, according to Eustat data. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, however, there was a 1.9% increase in prices. As for imports, prices fell compared with the first quarter or 2017 by 1.9%, but the year-on-year rate was up by 8.2%.

Within exports, energy was responsible for total price variation, and not only compared with the previous quarter, but also in year-on-year terms. In other words, prices for energy exports fell by 2.7% compared to the previous quarter, whereas prices for non-energy exports saw hardly any change (-0.6%). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, prices for energy exports rose by 7.0% and prices for non-energy exports by 1.1%.

The price index for imports of energy products grew by 11.4% in its quarter-on-quarter rate, and that of non-energy products grew by 2.6%. In year-on-year terms, energy products saw price rises of 13.2%, and non-energy products saw prices increase by 8.3%.

According to the classification by economic destinations of goods, , in the case of exports, the prices of Capital Goods fell by 1.8% and the prices of Consumer Goods by 2.4%, whilst the prices of Intermediate Goods increased by 0.5%, all compared with the previous quarter. In year-on-year terms, Intermediate Goods grew by 3.7% and Capital Goods and Consumer Goods fell by -0.6% and -1.5%, respectively.

In imports, it can be observed that the prices of Intermediate Goods are down in quarter-on-quarter terms (-2.7%) but not in year-on-year terms (8.8%), and that the rest of the goods are up in both comparisons.

Taking into account geographic areas, and compared with the previous quarter, export prices have dropped in the OECD (-0.9%) and in the Euro Zone (-0.2%); in the Rest of the World they were up by 1.7% and in EU-28 they remained practically stable (0.1%). Compared with the previous year, prices grew in all the economic areas, especially in the Euro Zone (3.8%).

In the case of imports, and compared to the previous year, prices were up in all areas, especially the Rest of the World, with an increase of 21.8%; however, compared to the previous quarter, it is the area with the highest drop (-2.4%).

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel: 945 01 75 62