Press Release 28/06/2019

FOREIGN TRADE UNIT VALUE INDICES - IVU. I/2019

Export prices decreased by 0.5% in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the previous quarter

The prices of imports were also down 0.2%

During the first quarter of 2019 the prices of exports posted a decrease of 0.5% compared to the last quarter of 2018, according to Eustat data. In comparison with the same quarter of the previous year, the increase is 4.3%.

The prices of imports also followed this trend, falling 0.2% compared to the previous quarter but rising 5.5% with respect to the first quarter of 2018.

Within exports, it was the prices of energy products that set the performance trend, both in relation to the previous quarter and in year-on-year terms. Energy export prices fell by 1.1% compared with the fourth quarter of 2018, whilst non-energy export prices were down 0.5%. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, prices for energy exports rose by 10.0% and non-energy exports by 3.6%.

The price index for imports of energy products decreased by 2.8% in its quarter-on-quarter rate, and that of non-energy products grew by 1.2%. In year-on-year terms, energy products saw price rises of 7.7%, and non-energy products saw prices increase by 4.7%.

Following the classification of goods by economic destination, of particular note was the increase in prices of exports of Consumer Goods (1.5%), and the decreases in prices of Intermediate Goods (-0.6%) and Capital Goods (-1.6%), all compared to the previous quarter. However, in year-on-year terms, prices grew for Consumer Goods (3.9%), Intermediate Goods (4.5%), and Capital Goods (3.6%).

Analysing imports, it can be observed that the prices of Consumer Goods fell in both quarter-on-quarter (-1.8%) and year-on-year (-0.5%) terms. However, the opposite occurred in the case of Capital Goods, with price rises of 3.7% and 9.4%, respectively. The prices of Intermediate Goods saw positive and negative variations, negative in the quarter-on-quarter comparison (-0.4%), but positive with respect to the previous year (5.7%).

If the geographic areas to which exports are sent are taken into account, it can be seen that prices in relation to the fourth quarter of 2018 fell in all areas: Euro Zone (-2.1%), EU-28 (-1.5%), OECD (-0.5%) and the Rest of the World (-0.2%). Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, prices increased in all the economic areas, ranging from 2.3% in the EU-28 to 8.2% in the Rest of the World.

For imports, there were decreases in all areas in both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year terms, with the exception of the “Rest of the World”, whose prices were down 1.9% on the previous quarter, but maintained growth of 5.6% compared to the first quarter of 2018.

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