Service industries: Key Economic Indicators

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

In 2019, the service industries accounted for 80% of total UK economic output (Gross Value Added). Services accounted for 82% of employment in July-September 2020.

Services Output

There was an increase of 1.7% in the Index of Services between November and December 2020.

There was an increase of 0.6% in services in the three months to December 2020 compared with the three months to September 2020.

In the three months to December 2020, compared with the three months to December 2019, services output decreased by 7.3%.

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 49.7 in February 2021’s flash estimate, compared with 39.5 in January. This suggests only a small contraction, with optimism higher than in the last few months because of pent-up demand.