Press Release 04/11/2021

INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION INDEX. SEPTEMBER 2021

Industrial activity in the Basque Country rose by 3.1% in September 2021

The cumulative increase of the Industrial Production Index for the first nine months of 2021 stood at 11.8%

The industrial production of the Basque Country was up 3.1% in September 2021 compared to the same month of 2020, in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. The balance for the first nine months of 2021 closed with a rise of 11.8% in industrial activity.

Comparing September 2021 with the previous month, August 2021, the industrial production of the Basque Country fell by 1.3%, once corrected for seasonal effects.

The evolution of the September 2021 index in respect of September 2020 was positive for all the large industrial sectors: Consumer Goods ,as a whole, posted an increase of 10.3%, with a rise of 27.7% in Consumer Durables and of 6.1% in Consumer Non-Durables. 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.

Capital Goods (including the manufacture of motor vehicles, construction of locomotives and railway material, naval construction and manufacture of aircraft) increased by 3.8%, while Intermediate Goods (including the activities of metallurgy and manufacture of metal products, chemical industry and manufacture of rubber and plastic products) saw a year-on-year rise of 0.9%. Energy was up 3.1% in September 2021. This sector includes the production and supply of electrical power and oil refining.

At a more disaggregated level, among the largest sectors in Basque industry, those that showed greater year-on-year growth in September 2021 were: Machinery & Equipment, with an increase of 9.9%; Timber, Paper & Graphic Arts, which rose by 9.4%; andFood, Beverages & Tobacco, up 6.8%. In contrast, the sectors that posted a negative year-on-year evolution were Transport Material, with a drop of 7.1% and Rubber and Plastics, down 5.1%.

The year-on-year evolution of the Industrial Production Index in September 2021 was positive for Gipuzkoa, where it rose by 8.3% and for Bizkaia, where growth stood at 5.6%. In Álava, however, there was a drop of 9.4%,

In the cumulative total for the first nine months of 2021, Gipuzkoa experienced the highest growth, with an increase of 14.6%; followed by Bizkaia, with 10.3%; and Álava with 9.8%.

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 with gathering information. As a result, the index for September 2021 was calculated with 91.72% coverage of the sample.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62