Press Release 24/04/2019

INDUSTRIAL PRICE INDEX, MARCH 2019

Industrial prices of the Basque Country rose by 0.5 % in March 2019 compared to the previous month

They were 2.2% up on the previous year (March 2019 on March 2018)

Industrial prices of the Basque Country rose by 0.5% in March 2019 compared to the previous month, according to EUSTAT data. With these data, the year-on-year rate for March, which indicates the fluctuation in industrial prices over the last twelve months, registered an increase of 2.2%.

A more detailed sector-level analysis reveals that in March 2019, the most inflationary branches on the previous month were: Coke Plants & Oil Refining, with a 3.0% increase in prices, Electricity, Gas & Steam, with a rise of 2.0% and Pharmaceutical Products and Electronic and Computer Products, both up 1.0%. On the other hand, the largest decreases in prices were registered in the sectors of: Textile, Garments, Leather & Footwear, whose prices decreased by 1.2%, Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts, down 1.0% and Metallurgy & Metal Products, with a fall of 0.4%.

Following the classification of Goods by economic destination, with regards to the previous month, Intermediate Goods posted a 0.4% decrease in prices, Energy rose by 2.7% and Capital Goods were up 0.1%. Consumer Goods as a whole were up 0.3%, as a result of the rise in prices of Consumer Non-durables, up 0.3%, given that prices of Consumer Durables fell by 0.1%.

In the year-on-year period, March 2019 on March 2018, the greatest increases in prices occurred within the branches of: Coke Plants & Oil Refining, with an increase of 12.8%, Electricity, Gas & Steam, up 5.3%, and Extraction Industries, with a rise of 4.1%. By contrast, decreases in prices were seen in the sectors of: Food, Beverages & Tobacco, which fell by 1.5%, and Metallurgy & Metal Products, whose prices were down 0.9%.

The price variation of the large goods groups was positive over the year-on-year period in all cases, except in Consumer Goods as a whole, which dropped 0.9% due to the decrease in Consumer Non-durables, which were down 1.3%, whilst the prices of Consumer Durables were up 1.7%. Energy increased by 10.3%, Capital Goods rose by 1.3% and prices corresponding to Intermediate Goods were up 0.1%.

Methodological note: during March 2019, the base year used as a reference for the Industrial Price Index (IPRI) was changed. The new IPRI base year of reference is 2015. This base change has signified the updating of the representative panel of participant companies of the industrial sector in the Basque Country as well as the weighting structure for the various levels of disaggregation

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