Press release 04/02/2021

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX. DECEMBER 2020

Industrial activity in the Basque Country fell by 13.3% in 2020

The Industrial Production Index in December dropped by 1.4% in respect of November 2020

In 2020, a year marked by the Covid-19 health crisis, industrial activity in the Basque Country was down 13.3% in relation to 2019, according to Eustat data.

Industrial production shrank in all major industrial sectors in 2020. The accumulated decrease over the year stood at 15.8% in Intermediate Goods; at 12.6% in the case of Capital Goods, and at 11.9% in the case of Energy. Consumer Goods closed the year with a fall in production of 6.7%. Consumer Durables fell by 13.2% and Consumer Non-Durables were down 5.2%.

The balance for 2020 was negative in the three provinces. In 2020, the steepest decline in industrial production occurred in Bizkaia, where the index was an overall drop of 16.0%. It was followed by Álava, with an overall downturn of 13.2%. Lastly, in Gipuzkoa, the overall decline throughout 2020 was 10.6%.

DECEMBER 2020

Industrial activity in December 2020 fell by 1.4% compared to the previous month in deseasonalised terms. Compared to December 2019, there was a year-on-year decrease of 7.2%, in homogenous terms of the working calendar. It was the tenth consecutive month with a year-on-year decline.

In homogenous terms of the working calendar, the index showed a downward trend for all the major industrial sectors in December 2020 compared to December 2019. Energy fell by 18.1%, Capital Goods fell by 7.5%, Intermediate Goods posted a year-on-year downturn of 6.8% and, lastly, Consumer Goods as a whole dropped by 3.9%, influenced by Consumer Non-Durables, which was down 5.2%, as Consumer Durables rose 2.6%.

In month-on-month terms, a negative trend was observed in all major industrial sectors in December 2020 compared to November 2020, once seasonal effects had been corrected. Energy fell by 6.0% and Capital Goods decreased by 5.3%. Production of Consumer Goods as a whole was down 0.8%, due to the 1.1% decrease in Consumer Non-Durables, given that Consumer Durables were up 0.5%. Lastly, Intermediate Goods dropped 0.7% in December compared to November 2020.

At a more disaggregated level, among the largest sectors in Basque industry, the best performing in year-on-year terms in December 2020 were Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts, with a 5.2% increase in production, Electrical Material & Equipment, which was up 4.6%, and Rubber and Plastics, which rose 4.0%. In contrast, the sectors with most weight that registered the greatest decreases were: Electricity, Gas & Steam, which decreased by 15.2%; Metallurgy & Metal Products, down 14.0%; and Food, Transport Material, down 13.7%.

By province, the year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index for December was negative in the three provinces, but to varying degrees. Compared to December 2019, Bizkaia saw an 11.7% downturn, Álava 10.0%, while in Gipuzkoa the drop was only 0.9%.

In month-on-month terms, December 2020 compared to November 2020, and once corrected for seasonal effects, there was an increase in production of 0.9% in Gipuzkoa. In contrast, Álava registered a decrease of 3.3% and Bizkaia a fall of 2.6%.

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) 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 circumstances. As a result, the December index was calculated with 94.11% coverage of the sample - whose information was collected during January.

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