Service industries: Key Economic Indicators

Service industries: Data for the sector that incorporates the retail sector, the financial sector, the public sector, business administration and cultural activities.

2The service industries include the retail sector, the financial sector, the public sector, business administration, leisure and cultural activities.

In 2018, the service industries accounted for 81% of total UK economic output (Gross Value Added). Services accounted for 84% of workforce jobs in September 2019.

Services Output

The Index of Services increased by 0.1% between December 2019 and January 2020.  There was no growth in services in the three months to January 2020 compared with the previous three months.  In the three months to January 2020, compared with the three months to January 2019, services output increased by 1.1%.  This is the lowest growth since April 2010 when it was 0.6%.

Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)

In the Markit/CIPS PMI, a value of 50 means that there is no change in activity compared to the previous month. Values above 50 indicate an expansion, and values below 50 a contraction.

The UK services PMI was 34.5 in March 2020, compared with 53.2 in February. This is a survey record low, recording a slump in business activity amid emergency public health measures to halt the spread of coronavirus. 

This exceeded the previous record low of 40.1 in November 2008. The survey began in July 1996.