Index of Services, UK: April 2023

• Monthly services output is estimated to have risen 0.3% in April 2023; this follows a fall of 0.5% in March 2023.

• The Index of Services (IoS) saw monthly rises in 10 of the 14 sectors: the main contributing sectors to the monthly rise in April 2023 were information and communication (1.3%) which contributed 0.12 percentage points to the IoS and wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (1.0%) which contributed 0.10 percentage points to the IoS; this was partially offset by falls in human health and social work activities (negative 0.9%), which contributed negative 0.08 percentage points to the IoS growth in April 2023, this sector was affected by industrial action (junior doctors) however it is not possible to quantify to what extent.  

• The IoS is 0.3% below February 2020, which was the last month of "normal" trading conditions prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; currently 8 of the 14 services sectors are above their February 2020 pre-coronavirus pandemic level. 

• Services output growth for the three months to April 2023 is estimated to have fallen 0.1%, compared with the three months to January 2023.  

• The main sectors contributing to this fall over the three months to April 2023 were public administration and defence and education, which declined 1.0% and 0.7%, respectively; both these industries were affected by industrial action over the three months to April 2023; these were partially offset by rises in arts, entertainment and recreation and other service activities, which grew 3.0% and 2.1%, respectively.

• For further and detailed analysis of the effect on our monthly IoS estimate, please see our GDP monthly estimate, UK: April 2023 article, published on 14 June 2023. 

Data sources and collection

The Index of Services (IoS) is compiled using data from several different sources: 

• Office for National Statistics (ONS) Monthly Business Survey (44.4%) 

• ONS Retail Sales Inquiry (6.4%) 

• ONS Government Expenditure (20.1%) 

• ONS Households' Expenditure (15.3%) 

• ONS Finance Expenditure (7.8%) 

• Other (5.9%) 

The Monthly Business Survey (MBS) data are published alongside this release in our MBS turnover of services industries dataset. 

Data relating to the retail industry are broadly comparable with our Retail sales, Great Britain: April 2023 bulletin, published on 26 May 2023. 

For further information on what is included within Other, please see the GDP(o) data sources catalogue. 

The percentage of each data source is based on their gross value added weight. The GDP(o) methods and sources pages provide more information on the data that underpin these statistics; of particular note is our GDP(o) data sources catalogue. 

From February 2018, value added tax (VAT) data have also been included across 64 production industries for small- and medium-sized businesses. For more information, see our VAT turnover data in National Accounts: background and methodology. 

Quality and methodology

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Index of Services QMI. 

Revisions to IoS

In line with our National Accounts revision policy, this release (published on 14 June 2023), sees no revisions to previous months.