Eustat

Press release dated 11/02/2011

DOMESTIC TRADE INDEX OF THE BASQUE COUNTRY (ICI) 4th quarter 2010

Trade sales rose by 5.3% in the Basque Country in the fourth quarter of 2010

Sales rose by 5.6% for 2010 overall

The trade sector of the Basque Country recorded a 5.3% increase in nominal sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 with respect to the same period of the previous year, according to Eustat data.

The sales index was up a nominal 2.5% on the previous quarter, once any seasonal effects had been eliminated.

The wholesale trade sector of the Basque Country recorded a 9.1% increase in nominal sales in the fourth quarter of 2010, while retail trade sales fell by 0.2%, with respect to the same quarter of 2009.

The performance of Semi-finished Products & Scrap Metal within the wholesale trade sector was particularly noteworthy as it posted nominal growth of 22.4%. Machinery & Equipment was up by 8.0%, while the sales of Non-Food Consumer Products fell by 1.0% in nominal terms and Farming & Food Products shrank by 0.2%.

In the retail trade sector, specialised retail trade sales were down by 0.7%, which non-specialised retail trade sales rose by 0.4%.

By Provinces, the highest growth in retail trade sector nominal sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 was in Álava, with a 10.1% year-on-year increase. Gipuzkoa increased its nominal saes by 7.0% and Bizkaia by 3.1%.



In real terms, after eliminating the effect of inflation, domestic trade sales rose by 0.9% in the fourth quarter.

The rise in wholesale trade sales stood at 3.3%, which retail trade sales fell by 2.6%, compared to the same quarter of 2009 and in constant prices.

Year-on-year performances varied within the wholesale trade sector: sales of Semi-finished Products & Scrap Metal rose by 9.7% and Machinery & Equipment posted real growth of 4.3%. However, Food Products fell by 1.4% and sales of Non-food Consumer Products were down by 0.7%, both in real terms.

With regard to retail trade, non-specialised retail sales fell by 3.3% and specialised retail sales were down 1.2%, in constant euros.

The number of people employed in the trade sector in the Basque Country overall in the fourth quarter of 2010 was down by 0.1% on the third quarter of 2010.

2010 ANNUAL BALANCE

Domestic trade sales for the year overall posted an accumulated nominal increase of 5.6%. By provinces, the best performance was recorded by Álava, with a 7.4% increase for the year overall 7.4%, followed by Gipuzkoa, up 7.2%, and Bizkaia, where sales rose by 4.2%, in nominal terms.

In real terms, the sector overall posted an increase of 2.7% for the Basque Country, with 3.5% for Gipuzkoa, 3.4% for Álava and 2.1% for Bizkaia.

Jobs in the trade sector were down by an accumulated 0.4% in 2010 compared to the average for the previous year. This can be broken down by province as follows: there was a 0.3% increase in Bizkaia, while Gipukzoa and Álava posted downturns of 1.0% and 1.8%, respectively.

For further information:

Basque Statistics Office
C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz
Tel:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.es
Contact: Susana Rodríguez
Tel:+34-945-01 75 14 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01
Further press releases on Domestic Trade Index (ICI) of the Basque Country.
Databank on Domestic Retail Index of the Basque Country