Industrial Price Index. 2021 Baseline

The annual rate of the general Industrial Price Index (IPRI) was -8.2% in the month of March, three tenths above that registered in February.

By the economic use of the goods, among the industrial sectors that had a notably positive effect on the annual rate of the General IPRI were:

• Energy, whose variation increased five tenths, up to -24.6%, due to the prices of Gas production; Pipeline distribution of gaseous fuels and Oil refining decreased less than in March 2023.
• Intermediate goods, which presented an annual rate of -4.9%, five tenths above that of February, as a consequence of the increase in prices of the Manufacture of basic chemical products, nitrogenous compounds, fertilizers, plastics and synthetic rubber in primary forms and, to a lesser extent, the Production of precious metals and other non-ferrous metals, which fell in the same month of the previous year.

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

• Non-durable consumer goods, which decreased its rate by six tenths and stood at 4.1%, the lowest since October 2021, due to the increase in prices of Meat processing and preservation and production of meat products being lower than that of the same month of 2023. The stability of prices for Beverage manufacturing also influenced this evolution, compared to the increase recorded in March of last year.

The annual variation rate of the general index excluding Energy decreased by one tenth, to -0.1%, standing nearly 8.1 points above that of the general IPRI.

In March the monthly variation rate of the overall IPRI was -2.2%.

A more detailed analysis shows the activities that most affected the monthly IPRI rate in March.

Today the INE has updated the IPRI data for the last three months, making those for December 2023 definitive. All results of this operation are available on INEBase.