With reference to the fourth quarter of 2019, industrial activity overall recorded a 3.7% drop in producer prices in the first quarter of 2020. In other words, a unit of good produced in the first quarter of 2020 cost relatively less than in the fourth quarter of 2019. This fall in ex-factory prices is largely due to the decline in producer prices recorded in the hydrocarbon extraction industries (-16.0%) and to a lesser extent that recorded in the textile industries (-2.8%). However, the decline in the above-mentioned enterprise groups was mitigated by higher prices in the paper and paperboard industries (+8.2%) and the metal and metal products (+5.1%).
