Press release 03/06/2020

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX. APRIL 2020

Industrial activity in the Basque Country fell by 39.0% in April 2020

The balance for the first four months of 2020 closed with a 13.1% drop in industrial activity

Industrial production of the Basque Country in April 2020 was down 39.0% compared to the same month of 2019, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data.

Compared to the previous month, March 2020, the industrial production of the Basque Country fell by 25.7%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.

The index showed a downward trend for all the major industrial sectors in April 2020 compared to April 2019. Capital Goods fell by 48.5% and Intermediate Goods were down 45.8%. Predominating among the former were manufacture of motor vehicles, construction of locomotives and railway material, naval construction and manufacture of aircraft, while among the latter it is worth mentioning the activities of metallurgy, manufacture of metal products, chemical industry and manufacture of rubber and plastic products.

Consumer Goods as a whole were down 23.3%, due to the 46.9% decrease in Consumer Durables, whilst Consumer Non-Durables were down 17.7%. Within Consumer Durables are the activities of manufacture of furniture, domestic appliances and electronic products. Included in the large sector of Consumer Non-Durables are the preparation, processing and conservation of foodstuffs; manufacture of cleaning and hygiene products; and manufacture of clothing.

Energy fell by 7.9%. Among the activities that stood out in this sector were the supply of electrical power and oil refining.

The month-on-month variation, April 2020 on March 2020, also showed a downward trend for all the major industrial sectors. Capital Goods fell by 34.5%; Intermediate Goods were down by 28.7%, and Consumer Goods, as a whole, dropped by 16.8%, due to the combination of two negative effects: Consumer Durables fell by 29.7% while Consumer Non-Durables were down 14.4%. Energy shrank by 9.9%.

At a more disaggregated level, among the largest sectors in Basque industry, those that registered the most significant downturns in April 2020 with regards to year-on-year variations, were: Transport Material, which shrank by 64.9%, Rubber and Plastics, down 56.7%, Metallurgy & Metal Products, which decreased by 47.8%, once corrected for the corresponding calendar effects. Among the most important sectors, Electricity, Gas & Steam, with a reduction of 1.1%, showed the least pronounced reduction.

By province, the year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index in April was negative in the three provinces, particularly in Álava, where it fell by 47.9%. In Bizkaia it was down 37.6% and, finally, in Gipuzkoa it decreased by 35.3%.

NOTE ON THE EFFECT OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS ON THE APRIL INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX

Royal Decree 463/2020 of 14 March, declared a state of alarm in order to manage the health crisis caused by COVID-19.

The exceptional measures adopted subsequently have brought the usual activity of the majority of establishments to a partial or total standstill during the whole of April.

Due to this situation, obtaining the necessary information for compiling the Industrial Production Index required a greater degree of effort, by both the companies surveyed and the personnel dedicated to collecting and processing the information.

Eustat would like to thank all the companies that have collaborated in making this effort despite the extraordinary circumstances. As a result, the April index was calculated with 91.6% coverage of the sample - whose information was collected during May.

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