Press release 04/06/2019

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX, APRIL 2019

Industrial activity in the Basque Country rose by 0.6% in April 2019

The industrial production index saw growth of 0.1% in the first quarter of 2019

Industrial production of the Basque Country in April 2019 was up 0.6% compared to the same month of 2018, in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. The balance for the first four months of 2019 saw growth of 0.1% on the same period of 2018.

Compared to the previous month, March 2019, the industrial production of the Basque Country rose by 1.7%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.

There were different performances in the index of the major industrial sectors in April 2019 compared to April 2018. Energy was up 2.7% and Intermediate Goods increased by 1.0%, whereas Capital Goods fell by 3.8%. Consumer Goods as a whole were up 3.9%. Within these, Consumer Durables rose by 5.5% and Consumer Non-durables grew by 3.6%.

The month-on-month variation, April 2019 on March 2019, also registered distinct trends for the major industrial sectors. Intermediate Goods were up 2.3% and Capital Goods rose by 0.6%, but Energy was down 1.4%. Consumer Goods as a whole increased by 3.6%, since Consumer Durables and Consumer Non-Durables posted rises of 8.4% and 2.6%, respectively.

Among the largest sectors in Basque industry, those that saw the most significant growth in the month of April 2019 with regards to year-on-year variations were: Electrical Material & Equipment, with year-on-year growth of 14.0%, Machinery & Equipment, which posted a rise of 5.4% and Food, Beverages & Tobacco, with an increase of 4.8%.

On the other hand, there were decreases in the sectors of Transport Material, which fell by 11.3% and Metallurgy & Metal Products, down 1.9%.

By province, the year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index for the month of April was positive in Bizkaia, where it rose by 4.3%, and in Gipuzkoa, where it was up 2.4%; in contrast, Álava posted a decrease of 8.1%.

For further information:

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