UK Index of Services

Data Services

Source: ONS
Source Link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/
Frequency: Monthly
Next Release(s): October 16th, 2025 2:00 AM

Latest Updates

UK services output grew +0.4% in the three months to July 2025, maintaining steady momentum but with mixed performance across subsectors.
- Monthly services output edged up +0.1% in July, following +0.3% in June and +0.1% in May, marking three straight months of growth.
- Growth was broad-based, with 10 of 14 sectors rising; the largest contributions came from human health & social work (+1.5%), professional & scientific activities (+1.2%), and information & communication (+1.4%).
- The main drag came from wholesale & retail trade (-1.3%), alongside smaller declines in education (-0.2%) and public administration (-0.2%).
- Transportation & storage rose +1.4% MoM in July, led by warehousing (+2.5%) and land transport (+0.8%).
- Human health & social work also supported monthly growth (+0.4%), driven by medical activities (+0.6%) and residential care (+0.3%).
- Offsetting declines came from information & communication (-0.7%), due to motion picture & publishing (-5.6%), and administrative & support services (-0.6%).
- Consumer-facing services fell -0.6% over the three months, with retail trade (-0.9%) and travel services (-9.1%) weighing, though accommodation (+1.7%) and food & beverage (+0.6%) provided partial offsets.
Source
UK services output rose +0.3% MoM in June 2025, following a +0.1% gain in May and a -0.2% decline in April. Over Q2 2025, services output increased +0.4% QoQ.
- 7 of 14 sectors grew MoM, led by professional, scientific & technical activities (+1.7%) and wholesale & retail trade (+0.8%).
- Largest MoM declines came from education (-0.5%) and other service activities (-1.6%).
- In Q2, information & communication (+2.0%) and human health & social work (+1.1%) drove growth.
- Computer programming, consulting & related activities rose +4.1% QoQ, while wholesale fell -2.4%.
Source
UK services output rose +0.1% MoM in May 2025, following a -0.3% decline in April and a +0.4% gain in March. Over the three months to May, services output increased +0.4%.
- 10 of 14 sectors grew MoM, led by information & communication (+2.0%) and legal services (+6.1%).
- Computer programming and consultancy rose +3.0% MoM, contributing positively.
- Wholesale & retail trade fell -1.5% MoM, with retail trade down -2.7%, the largest drag.
- In the 3-month period, admin & support services saw the strongest gain (+3.2%), driving overall growth.
Source
UK services output fell -0.4% MoM in April 2025, the first monthly decline since October 2024, following gains of 0.3% in February and 0.4% in March. Despite the dip, services output rose 0.6% in the three months to April.
- 9 of 14 sectors saw MoM declines; the largest drag came from professional, scientific & technical activities (-2.4%), led by legal services (-10.2%) and wholesale trade (-3.2%).
- Admin & support service activities rose +1.6% MoM, the strongest positive contributor in April.
- In the 3-month period to April, services output was lifted by admin & support services (+3.3%), information & communication (+2.4%), and wholesale & retail trade (+1.4%).
- April’s drop reflects temporary distortions, including a pull-forward of legal and real estate activity ahead of April’s Stamp Duty Land Tax hike.
Source
UK services output rose 0.4% MoM in March 2025, marking the fifth consecutive monthly increase. Over the three months to March, services output increased +0.7% QoQ.
- 8 of 14 sectors posted MoM gains, led by wholesale & retail trade (+0.9%) and information & communication (+1.2%); admin & support services fell -0.5%.
- Consumer-facing services output rose +0.6% MoM, boosted by sports & recreation (+5.8%) and food & beverage services (+1.3%); travel agency output fell -6.6%.
- In the three months to March, top contributors to services growth were admin & support services (+3.3%), wholesale & retail (+1.6%), and information & communication (+1.9%).
- Consumer-facing services rose +0.9% QoQ, with gains in retail trade (+1.4%) and other personal services (+3.6%), partially offset by a -2.2% drop in accommodation.
- Services output is now up +1.5% YoY as of March 2025.
Source
UK services output rose 0.3% MoM in February 2025, following gains of 0.4% in December and 0.1% in January.
- 9 of 14 sectors posted increases, led by information and communication (+2.2% MoM).
- The largest drag came from other service activities, down -2.8% MoM, one of 5 subsectors to see a decline.
- Output in consumer-facing services increased by 0.7% MoM in February, following a fall of -0.1% MoM in January (revised down from a 0.1% MoM rise).
- Services output rose 0.6% in the three months to February vs. the prior three months.
- Main contributors to the increase in the three months to February were administrative & support services (+1.9%), wholesale & retail trade (+1.0%), and information & communication (+1.6%).
Source
The increase in services output was 0.1% MoM, the weakest increase in three months, with only six subsectors growing.
- The largest increases in output were in the administrative & support (+1.9% MoM) and wholesale & retail trade (0.7% MoM) subsectors.
- These were offset by a -2.4% MoM decline in accommodation & food services, reversing from a 0.9% MoM gain in December.
- Services output contributed just 5 bps to headline GDP growth which was not enough to offset the deterioration in the manufacturing sector.
Source
Services output was estimated to have increased 0.4% MoM in December and 0.2% QoQ. On an annual basis, services output was up 1.3%.
- In Q4, “human health and social work activities” (+0.9% QoQ) and “professional, scientific and technical activities” (+0.9% QoQ) provided the largest positive contributions; partially offset by “administrative and support service activities” (-1.4% QoQ).
- There were monthly increases in 11 of the 14 sectors, with widespread small increases; the largest positive contribution came from “professional, scientific and technical activities” (+1.2% MoM).
Source
The UK services sector remains the primary growth source for the economy, up 0.1% MoM but flat in the three months to November. There were monthly increases in 7 of the 14 sectors, with the largest positive contributions coming from accommodation and food service activities (+2.0% MoM), information and communication (+0.9% MoM) and wholesale and retail trade (+0.5% MoM).

Source
The service sector continues to be the most stable of the UK economy. In the last three months, the sector has grown 0.1% but seen no decline. Activity in service subsectors was mixed however with 7/14 reporting growth. In the last three months, the strongest subsector was professional, scientific and technical activities, up 1.5% MoM.

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