Press Release 23/04/2020

INDUSTRIAL PRICE INDEX. MARCH 2020

Industrial prices of the Basque Country were down 1.8% in March 2020 in respect of the previous month

Compared to March 2019 industrial prices fell by 2.7%

Industrial prices in the Basque Country were down 1.8% in March 2020 in respect of 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, stood at -2.7%.

A more detailed analysis reveals that, in March 2020, the most inflationary branches on the previous month were: Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning with an increase of 0.9% and Pharmaceutical Products that, together with Manufacture of Machinery & Equipment, registered an increase of 0.8%. On the other hand, the following sectors recorded the largest month-on-month decreases in prices: Coke Plants and Oil Refining with a fall of 19.5%, Extraction Industries, with a drop of 2.2% and Textile, Garments, Leather & Footwear down 1.6%.

Following the classification of Goods by economic destination, compared to the previous month, Capital Goods rose by 0.5%; and Consumer Goods, as a whole, were up 0.2%. Within the latter, prices of Consumer Non-Durables were up by 0.3%; whilst in Consumer Durables there was a downturn of 0.4%. In contrast, Energy fell by 10.0% and Intermediate Goods were down 0.1%.

In year-on-year terms, March 2020 on March 2019, the greatest increases in prices occurred within the branches of Textile, Garments, Leather & Footwear with a rise of 4.4%, Transport Material, up 3.8% and Extraction Industries with growth of 3.5%. Conversely, there were decreases in prices corresponding to the sectors of Coke Plants and Oil Refining, which fell by 26.3%; Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts, which dropped by 3.3%; and Electricity, Gas, Steam & Air Conditioning, down 2.1%.

The price variation of the large goods groups by economic destination was positive over the year-on-year period for Capital Goods, up 1.5%, and Consumer Goods as a whole, with a rise of 2.3%. Among the latter, the prices of Consumer Non-Durables rose by 2.5%, and Consumer Durables were up 1.1%. By contrast, decreases in prices were only seen in the Energy sector, down 15.6%, given that Intermediate Goods remained unchanged (0.0%).

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