Service industries: Key Economic Indicators

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

The service industries accounted for 78% of total UK economic output (Gross Value Added) in April-June 2022 and 82% of employment in January-March 2022.

Services Output

There was an fall of 0.5% in the Index of Services between May and June 2022.

There was a fall of 0.4% in services in the three months to June 2022 compared with the three months to March 2022.

In the three months to June 2022, compared with the three months to June 2021, services output increased by 3.0%.

Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)

In the S&P Global/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 49.2 in the flash estimate for September 2022, down from 50.9 in August. Business activity was therefore contracting (albeit narrowly) for the first time since February 2021. This was caused by slower sales because of the higher cost of living, and increased economic uncertainty.