Statistical bulletin: Index of Services, December 2013

Index of Services December 2013

• The Index of Services increased by 3.2% in December 2013 compared with December 2012. All of the four main components of the services industries increased in the most recent month compared with the same month a year ago.
• The largest contributions came from: business services & finance, which contributed 1.4 percentage points to total growth; and distribution, hotels & restaurants, which contributed 1.0 percentage points to total growth.
• The latest Index of Services estimates show that output increased by 0.2% between November 2013 and December 2013, following an increase of 0.5% between October 2013 and November 2013.
• The Index of Services increased by 0.8% in Q4 2013 compared with Q3 2013. This figure is unchanged from the estimate used in the Preliminary Estimate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) published on 28 January 2014. The Index of Services is estimated to have increased by 1.9% in 2013 compared with 2012.
• The figures within this release are estimates and are on a seasonally adjusted basis. The earliest period open for revision in this release is January 2013.