Index of Services, UK: August 2024

• We estimate that the Index of Services (IoS) output increased by 0.1% in August 2024; this follows an unrevised 0.1% increase in July 2024.

• The IoS saw monthly increases in 5 of the 14 sectors in August 2024, with the largest contribution to the monthly increase coming from "professional, scientific and technical activities" (1.6%).

• There were decreases in 7 sectors (2 saw no growth) in August 2024 with "arts, entertainment and recreation" (down 2.5%) the only sector seeing a fall greater than 0.8%.

• We estimate that in the three months to August 2024, the monthly services output increased by 0.1%, when compared with the three months to May 2024; this is the weakest IoS three-monthly growth since December 2023 (down 0.1%).

• The main positive contributing sectors in the three months to August 2024 were "professional, scientific and technical activities" (0.8%); "information and communication" (0.9%) and "public administration and defence; compulsory social security" (0.9%).

• These increases in the three months to August 2024 were offset by falls in "human health and social work activities" (down 1.1%) and "administrative and support services activities" (down 0.8%).

Response rates for August 2024

The response rates for August 2024 were 71.9% based on forms returned. This accounted for 86.1% of total turnover coverage of the sample population. For further information, see our Current and historical Monthly Business Survey (MBS) (services) response rates dataset.

Data sources and collection

The Index of Services (IoS) is compiled using data from several different sources (share of overall economy based on latest gross value added (GVA) weights). These include the:

• Office for National Statistics (ONS) MBS (34.9%)     

• ONS Retail Sales Inquiry (4.8%)    

• ONS Government Expenditure (15.3%)     

• ONS Households' Expenditure (11.2%)     

• ONS Finance Expenditure (8.0%)     

• ONS Households and non-profit institutions serving households (1.9%) 

• other (3.6%)

The 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: August 2024 bulletin, published on 20 September 2024.

For further information on what is included within "other", please see our Gross domestic product (GDP(o)) data sources catalogue. 

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

Value Added Tax (VAT) data are also included for small and medium-sized businesses to help inform estimates. For more information, see our VAT turnover data in National Accounts: background and methodology.

Quality and methodology

The data reported in IoS bulletins and datasets are estimates that are subject to uncertainty, for example, sampling variability and non-sampling error. For more information on these, see Section 2 of our Uncertainty and how we measure it for our surveys 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.

Accredited Official Statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in April 2014. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".

Revisions to IoS

In line with our National Accounts revision policy, this release gives data for August 2024 for the first time with revisions open for all other periods. This release contains data consistent with the UK National Accounts, The Blue Book 2024, which is to be released on 31 October 2024.

These revisions are consistent with our GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: April to June 2024 bulletin, published on 30 September 2024, and incorporates improved source data, updated seasonal adjustment parameters, and additional updated data as would happen in all quarterly national accounts releases. This includes new Value Added Tax (VAT) turnover data for Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2023 and Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2024. 

Blue Book 2024 publication update

This estimates 2022 for the first time using the supply and use tables (SUTs) framework, as well as improving the estimates of 2020 and 2021 based on more recent data. Additionally, we have updated the base year to 2022 after holding this fixed since the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For more information on these revisions please see our Blue Book 2024: advanced aggregate estimates article.