Index of Services, UK: March 2022

• Monthly services output fell by 0.2% between February and March 2022, reaching a level that was 1.5% above February 2020, which was the last month of "normal" trading conditions prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
• There were falls in 7 of the 14 sectors in the Index of Services during March 2022.
• The largest negative contribution to growth was from wholesale and retail trade, which fell by 2.8%; however, this was offset by human health and social work activities, which grew by 1.5%.
• 8 of the 14 services sub-sectors have now surpassed their February 2020 pre-coronavirus levels, with the largest increase being human health and social work activities (10.7%).
• Services output for Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2022 rose by 0.4%, compared with Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2021; over this period, the largest contributor was information and communication, which grew by 3.6%.
• For further and detailed analysis of the effect on our monthly Index of Services estimate, please see our GDP monthly estimate, UK: March 2022 article published on 12 May 2022.

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: March 2022 bulletin, published on 22 April 2022.

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

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

Quality and methodology

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

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS') MBS is fully online, meaning that business owners can log on from any location and submit their data at an appropriate time. Most other data in the IoS come from within the ONS and therefore will be less affected than survey data.

Our latest data and analysis on the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the UK economy and population are available on their own web page. This is the hub for all special coronavirus-related publications, including the fortnightly Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS).

The ONS has released a public statement on COVID-19 and the production of statistics. If you have specific queries, you can contact the media relations office by email at media.relations@ons.gov.uk.

Economic statistics governance after EU exit

Following the UK's exit from the EU, new governance arrangements are being put in place that will support the adoption and implementation of high-quality standards for UK economic statistics. These governance arrangements will promote international comparability and add to the credibility and independence of the UK's statistical system.

At the centre of this new governance framework will be the new National Statistician's Committee for Advice on Standards for Economic Statistics (NSCASE). NSCASE will support the UK by ensuring its processes for influencing and adopting international statistical standards are world leading. The advice NSCASE provides to the National Statistician will span the full range of domains in economic statistics. This includes the National Accounts, fiscal statistics, prices, trade, and the balance of payments and labour market statistics.