Export (IPRIX) and Import (IPRIM) Price Indices of Industrial Products. Base 2015

The annual rate for the Export Price Index (IPRIX) in December was -1.2%, five tenths over that recorded in November.

By economic use of the goods, all industrial sectors had a positive effect on the annual rate of the General IPRIX. Among these, worth noting were:

• Intermediate goods, whose rate rose nine tenths to -4.2%, due to the increased prices in Manufacture of basic iron and steel and of ferro-alloys, as opposed the lower prices of 2022, and to a lesser extent in Manufacture of basic chemicals, fertilisers and nitrogen compounds, plastics and synthetic rubber in primary forms, whose prices fell less than in the same month of 2022.

It is worth mentioning, although in the opposite direction, the falling prices in Manufacture of tubes, pipes, hollow profiles and related fittings, of steel, which went up in December 2022.

• Energy, whose annual rate stands at -25.8%, nine tenths higher than in the previous month, was a consequence of the decrease in Refined petroleum prices, less than that of December 2022, and the increase in the prices of Electric power generation, transmission and distribution, greater than the data from the same month in 2022.

The annual variation of the general index excluding Energy increased by five tenths, to 0.7%, standing nearly 1.9 points above that of the general IPRIX.

The Industrial Price Index of the domestic and foreign markets, which is obtained through aggregating the IPRI and the IPRIX, rose in its annual rate by more than one point in December, to -4.4%. As for the annual variation of the general index without Energy, it increased by three tenths, to 0.9%.

In December, industrial export prices recorded a monthly rate of 0.1%, as compared to the month of November.

The Import Price Index (IPRIM) recorded an annual variation of -5.2% in December, 1.3 points higher than in November.

By economic use, the industrial sectors with a positive influence on the variation of the annual rate of the IPRIM included the following:

• Energy, whose rate rose by 4.4 points, to stand at -21.7%. This behaviour was influenced by the decrease in prices for Extraction of crude petroleum and natural gas and the Manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products, which was less than in December 2022.

On the other hand, amongst the industrial sectors with a negative influence, worth noting are:

• Non-durable consumer goods, whose variation dropped one tenth and stood at -0.3%, due to the falling prices in Food industry, as opposed to the up-tick in the same month of 2022.

The annual variation rate of the overall index excluding Energy increased one tenth, to -1.2%, which is four points above the rate of the general IPRIM.

In December, the monthly variation of the Import Price Index was -0.8%.

A more detailed analysis shows the activities that most affected the monthly IPRIM rate in the month of December.

The INE publishes today the last data on the Import and Export Price Indexes for the 2015 base year. The new 2021 base year will feature some significant changes, which include an update to the weightings and the sample, as well as the implementation of the dissemination of results disaggregated for Eurozone and non-Eurozone at the division level.

INE has updated the IPRIX and IPRIM data for the last three months, making the September 2023 data final. All results of this operation are available on INEBase.