Press release 03/12/2020

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX. OCTOBER 2020

Industrial activity in the Basque Country fell by 7.9% in October 2020

Compared to the previous month, September 2020, the industrial production index increased by 0.6%

Industrial production of the Basque Country in October 2020 was down 7.9% compared to the same month of 2019, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data, marking the eighth month of negative rates.

Comparing October 2020 with September 2020, the industrial production of the Basque Country rose by 0.6%, once corrected for seasonal effects.

The balance for the first ten months of 2020 closed with an accumulated contraction of 14.6% in industrial activity.

The index showed a downward trend for all the major industrial sectors in October 2020 compared to October 2019. Energy, which includes activities such as supply of electrical power and oil refining, fell by 26.8%.

Both Intermediate Goods; which includes the activities of metallurgy, manufacture of metal products, chemical industry and manufacture of rubber and plastic products; and Consumer Goods, as a whole, posted a year-on-year decrease of 6.8%. Among the latter, Consumer Non-durables fell by 7.5%, whilst Consumer Durables were down 3.7%. 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. Within Consumer Durables are the activities of manufacture of furniture, domestic appliances.

Finally, Capital Goods were down 5.0%. Within these, of particular note is the manufacture of motor vehicles, construction of locomotives and railway material, naval construction and manufacture of aircraft.

The month-on-month variation, October 2020 on September 2020, showed positive and negative variations in all the main industrial sectors, once corrected for seasonal effects. Positive rates were seen in Capital Goods, up 2.3%, and Intermediate Goods, with a rise of 0.4%. In contrast, production of Consumer Goods, as a whole, fell by 1.1%, due to the 2.5% decrease in Consumer Non-Durables, given that Consumer Durables increased by 5.9%. Finally, Energy was down 0.5%.

At a more disaggregated level, among the largest sectors in Basque industry, the only one that performed positively in October 2020, with regards to year-on-year variations, was Rubber and Plastics with an increase in its production of 0.5%. In contrast, the sectors with most weight that registered the greatest decreases were: Electricity, Gas & Steam, which decreased by 26.3%; Metallurgy & Metal Products, down 11.6%; and Machinery & Equipment, with a fall of 5.6%, once corrected for the corresponding calendar effects.

By province, the year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index for October 2020 was negative in the three provinces. Thus, in Bizkaia there was a decrease of 13.5% (influenced above all by the performance of the energy sector), in Gipuzkoa there was a fall of 5.3% and, finally, in Álava it was down 2.6%.

In month-on-month terms, October 2020 on September 2020, and once corrected for seasonal effects, there was an increase in production of 1.7% in Bizkaia and of

0.9% in Álava, while in Gipuzkoa there was a decrease of 0.6%.

NOTE:

The models used in the correction of calendar effects and deseasonalisation of the series include the effect of COVID-19 on the variables studied, following the recommendations of the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) (Eurostat) in its methodological note Guidance on Time Series Treatment in the context of the COVID-19 crisis..

Eustat would like to thank all the establishments that have collaborated in making this effort despite the extraordinary circumstances. As a result, the October index was calculated with 93.96% coverage of the sample - whose information was collected during November.

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