Home > Statistics > Turnover of service industries > 2020 > December > Turnover and output in services fell in December

Published: 15 February 2021

Turnover and output in services fell in December

Working day adjusted turnover in service industries fell by 10.8 per cent in December 2020 from December 2019. Service output or volume, from which the impact of prices has been eliminated, fell by 7.9 per cent over the same period. In this year's November, turnover went down by 8.6 per cent, while volume contracted correspondingly by 6.3 per cent. Services are here examined exclusive of trade.

Annual change in working day adjusted turnover and volume of service industries, %

In December 2020, the development measured by turnover adjusted for working days was weaker than in the entire service industry in accommodation and food service activities (-49.0%), arts, entertainment and recreation activities (-32.3%), transportation and storage (-20.8%), and administrative and support service activities (-11.0%). The development of the volumes of the industries was also weaker than the average development of the volume of service industries. The volume of accommodation and food service activities decreased by 48.9 per cent from December 2019. In turn, the volume of transportation and storage went down by 19.7 per cent in the corresponding time. In administrative and support service activities, the volume fell by 8.2 per cent from the previous year's December.

Of the main service industries, other service activities also fell clearly, as turnover there decreased by 9.7 per cent from December 2019. In professional, scientific and technical activities, working day adjusted turnover fell by only 1.7 per cent in December 2020 from one year previously, while the volume of the industry grew by 1.6 per cent over the same period. Working day adjusted turnover of real estate activities fell slightly, by 0.5 per cent, in December 2020 while the volume of the industry then was on level with December 2019.

The most favourable development in the main service industries in December 2020 was seen in information and communication, where turnover grew by 2.9 per cent from one year earlier. The 2.3 per cent rise in the volume of the industry in December was also fastest among service industries.

Annual change in working day adjusted turnover and volume of service industries, December 2020, % (TOL 2008)

Turnover fell while output remained on level with the previous month

Seasonally adjusted turnover in service industries decreased in December 2020 by 0.7 per cent compared to November. The output of services, from which the impact of prices has been eliminated, fell by only 0.1 per cent over the same period. In November, both turnover and volume increased by 0.6 per cent from October 2020.

Change in seasonally adjusted turnover and volume from the previous month of service industries, %

The data for the latest month are preliminary and are released at a delay of around six weeks. The data may become significantly revised particularly on more detailed industry levels in coming months. The volume of service industries is calculated by eliminating the effect of price changes from the turnover index.

The factors caused by the variation in the number of weekdays are taken into account in adjustment for working days. This means taking into consideration the lengths of months, different weekdays and holidays. In addition, seasonal variation is eliminated from seasonally adjusted series, on account of which it makes sense to compare observations of two successive months as well.

Industries of enterprises have been revised in the data released in February

Starting from statistical release published in February 2021 the latest industries defined by the Business Register have been taken into use in the turnover and wage and salary indices. The industry corrections are visible as revised data in some of the published industries for the years 2019-2020. The effects of the changes are taken into consideration in statistics production so that no breaks occur in the time series of the published index series. The interpretation of the statistics also remains unchanged in the renewal. Revisions to annual changes in industries are presented under Revisions in these statistics .

Source: Turnover of service industries, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Aki Niskanen 029 551 2657, Katja Liukkonen 029 551 3515, palvelut.suhdanne@stat.fi

Head of Department in charge: Katri Kaaja

Publication in pdf-format (400.0 kB)

Tables

Tables in databases

Pick the data you need into tables, view the data as graphs, or download the data for your use.

• Database tables and their variables
• Archived tables

Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Annual change in working day adjusted turnover and volume in sectors of services, % (TOL 2008) (15.2.2021)

Figures

• Appendix figure 1. Turnover and volume of service industries, trend series (15.2.2021)
• Appendix figure 2. Turnover and volume of transportation and storage, trend series (15.2.2021)
• Appendix figure 3. Turnover and volume of information and communication, trend series (15.2.2021)
• Appendix figure 4. Turnover and volume of real estate activities, trend series (15.2.2021)
• Appendix figure 5. Turnover and volume of professional, scientific and technical activities, trend series (15.2.2021)
• Appendix figure 6. Turnover and volume of administrative and support service activities, trend series (15.2.2021)

Revisions in these statistics

• Revisions in these statistics (15.2.2021)

---

Updated 15.2.2021