Press release 05/11/2019

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX. SEPTEMBER 2019

Industrial activity in the Basque Country rose by 1.9% in September 2019

The Industrial Production Index saw overall growth of 0.8% in the first nine months of 2019

Industrial production of the Basque Country in September 2019 was up 1.9% compared to the same month of the previous year, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. The balance for the first nine months of 2019 closed with growth of 0.8% on the same period of 2018.

Compared to the previous month, August 2019, the industrial production of the Basque Country fell by 0.4%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.

The performance of the index in September 2019 compared to September 2018 registered positive and negative results in the major industrial sectors. Energy rose by 14.2%, Intermediate Goods grew by 2.3% and Consumer Goods as a whole were up 3.8% (Consumer Durables increased by 4.6% and Consumer Non-Durables by 3.5%). Capital Goods, on the other hand, were down 0.9%.

The month-on-month variation in September 2019, compared to August 2019, also registered distinct trends for the major industrial sectors. Capital Goods were up 9.4% and Intermediate Goods saw an increase of 0.3%. On the other hand, Consumer Goods as a whole decreased by 0.3% (Consumer Durables were down 6.1%, whilst Consumer Non-Durables were up 1.3%) and Energy dropped by 6.3%.

Among the largest sectors in Basque industry, those that saw the most significant growth in the month of September 2019 with regards to year-on-year variations were: Electricity, Gas & Steam, up 31.3%; Electrical Material & Equipment with an increase of 8.2%; Metallurgy & Metal Products, with a rise of 4.9%; and Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts, which grew by 4.8%.

In contrast, the largest decreases occurred in the following sectors: Food, Beverages & Tobacco, with a year-on-year drop of 3.8%; Transport Material, down 3.7% and Machinery & Equipment, which decreased by 3.1%.

By province, year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index for the month of September showed positive results in Bizkaia, where there was a rise of 7.9%, whilst in Álava and Gipuzkoa there was a fall of 1.8% and 1.6%, respectively.

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