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 80% of total UK economic output (Gross Value Added) and 82% of employment in January-March 2021.

Services Output

There was an increase of 0.9% in the Index of Services between April and May 2021.

There was an increase of 3.9% in services in the three months to May 2021 compared with the three months to February 2021.

In the three months to May 2021, compared with the three months to May 2020, services output increased by 15.4%.

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 57.8 in July 2021’s flash estimate, compared with 62.4 in June. The rate of expansion slowed further from June, with Covid-19 isolation rules and the end of the stamp duty holiday possibly contributing to the change.