Index of Services, UK: May 2023

• Monthly services output is estimated to have been flat (0.0%) in May 2023; this follows an unrevised increase of 0.3% in April 2023.

• The Index of Services (IoS) saw monthly increases in 7 of the 14 sectors, with the largest contribution being in human health and social work activities (1.1%), primarily because of decreased industrial action in May 2023 compared with April 2023; this was offset by negative contributions in wholesale and retail trade (negative 0.5%) and administrative and support service activities (negative 0.7%).

• The IoS is 0.2% 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. 

• Like the monthly growth rate, services output is estimated to have been flat (0.0%) for the three months to May 2023, compared with the three months to February 2023. 

• The main positive contributing sector over the three months to May 2023 was arts, entertainment and recreation (4.7%); this was offset by falls in wholesale and retail trade (negative 0.7%) and professional, scientific and technical activities (negative 0.5%).

• There was no explicit adjustment for the additional bank holiday held for the coronation of King Charles III on 8 May 2023 because this was an ad hoc event (non-regular calendar event); the timing of the bank holiday affects the number of trading days in May 2023, which could affect IoS monthly estimates.

• For further and detailed analysis of the effect on our monthly IoS estimate, please see our GDP monthly estimate, UK: May 2023 article, published on 13 July 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: May 2023 bulletin, published on 23 June 2023. 

For further information on what is included within "other", please see our 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, particularly 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. 

Revisions to IoS

In line with the National Accounts revision policy, this release gives data for May 2023 for the first time, with April 2023 also open for revisions. We have also included revisions to monthly data from January 2023 to March 2023 in our GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: January to March 2023.