Press Release 04/10/2018

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX, AUGUST 2018

Industrial activity in the Basque Country rose by 1.4% in August 2018

The Industrial Production Index saw growth of 2.2% in the first eight months of 2018

Industrial production of the Basque Country in August 2018 was up by 1.4% compared to the same month of 2017, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. The balance for the first eight months of 2018 closed with growth of 2.2% on the same period of 2017.

Compared to the previous month, July 2018, the industrial production of the Basque Country rose by 4.2%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.

The performance of the index in August 2018 compared to August 2017 registered positive and negative results in the major industrial sectors. Capital goods fell by 0.7% and Energy decreased by 1.2% but Intermediate Goods were up by 2.9%. Consumer Goods as a whole were up by 2.1%. Within the latter, Consumer Non-durables were up by 2.2% and Consumer durables increased by 1.7%.

The month-on-month variation in August 2018, compared to July 2018, also registered upward trends for the major industrial sectors. Capital Goods rose by 4.9%, Intermediate Goods by 2.8% and Energy by 0.4%. Consumer Goods as a whole were up by 0.8%, due to the 5.8% increase in Consumer Durables, whilst Consumer Non-Durables were down 0.9%.

Among the largest sectors in Basque industry, those that saw the most significant growth in terms of year-on-year variations were: Electrical Material & Equipment, increased by 15.2%, Machinery & Equipment, by 9.7% and Food, Beverages & Tobacco, by 4.6%.

Conversely, there were decreases in the sectors of Transport Material, with a 19.9% drop, Electricity, Gas & Steam, which was down 2.0%, and Metallurgy & Metal Products, which fell by 1.0%.

By province, the year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index for the month of August was positive in Gipuzkoa, where it rose by 4.1% and in Bizkaia, where it was up by 0.9%, but in Álava there was a decrease of 2.5%.

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