Index of Services, UK: January 2023

• Monthly services output rose by 0.5% in January 2023, this is in contrast to a fall of 0.8% in December 2022.

• The Index of Services (IoS) saw monthly rises in 12 of the 14 sectors during January 2023, compared with a fall in 11 of the 14 sectors in December 2022.

• The main contributing sectors were education (2.5%), that contributed 0.18 percentage points to IoS growth as school attendance returned to November 2022 levels, and arts entertainment and recreation, which grew by 3.4% and contributed 0.06 percentage points to IoS growth as sports activities and amusement and recreation activities grew by 8.9%.

• The IoS remains 0.2% below February 2020 levels, which was the last month of "normal" trading conditions prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

• Currently, 7 of the 14 services sectors are above their February 2020 pre-coronavirus pandemic IoS level.

• Services output growth for the three months to January 2023 was flat, compared with the three months to October 2022; over this period, growth from administrative and support service activities (3.7%) was offset by a fall in transportation and storage (negative 3.7%).

• For further and detailed analysis of the effect on our monthly Index of Services estimate, please see our GDP monthly estimate, UK: January 2023 article published on 10 March 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: January 2023 bulletin, published on 17 February 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. 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.

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.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Our 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 society 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).

We have 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 Brexit

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

• the balance of payments and labour market statistics

Revisions to IoS

In line with the National Accounts revision policy, there are no open periods for revision in this release. For our February 2023 release (to be published 13 April 2023), we will align with the latest GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: October to December 2022 and periods from January 2022 will be open to revision.