UK services output was flat in August but up 0.9% over three months

Serguey Asael Shinder17 October 2026, 09:071 min read

UK services output had no growth (0.0%) in August 2026, the Office for National Statistics reported in its Index of Services bulletin released 15 October 2026. That flat month followed increases of 0.5% in June and 0.5% in July. Over the three months to August 2026, services output grew 0.9% compared with the three months to May. Services are the dominant part of the UK economy, so this index is a large component of monthly GDP.

What the index measures. The Index of Services tracks movements in the volume of output for the UK services industries, seasonally adjusted, as chained-volume indices of gross value added. The ONS release also publishes a Monthly Business Survey (MBS) turnover dataset alongside it and notes the data sources behind the index: the ONS MBS accounts for 36.0% of the index, Government Expenditure 15.9%, Households' Expenditure 12.2%, Finance Expenditure 7.3%, the Retail Sales Inquiry 4.4%, households and non-profit institutions serving households 1.7%, and other sources 1.6%.

Reading it carefully. A flat single month after two 0.5% rises is a slowing in the monthly pace, while the three-month figure — the measure the ONS highlights for trend — still shows growth of 0.9%. The two numbers answer different questions: the monthly print is the latest step; the three-month change smooths the recent path. This piece reports what the index records and does not attribute the flat month to any single cause; the ONS bulletin and its datasets carry the breakdown by services component for anyone tracing where the movement sat. The next release is scheduled for 12 November 2026.

Source: Office for National Statistics, "Index of Services, UK: August 2026" — https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/economicoutputandproductivity/output/bulletins/indexofservices/august2026