Insee
Informations Rapides · 30 April 2021 · n° 117
Informations rapidesServices output bounced back slighly in February 2021 (+1.1%) Index of services production - February 2021

In February 2021, output in services bounced back slightly (+1.1% after −4.5% in January). Compared with February 2020 (last month before the first lockdown), it remained however sharply down (−9.0%).

Informations rapides
No 117
Paru le :Paru le30/04/2021
Prochaine parution le : 28/08/2025 at 08:45 - June 2025
Warning

The indices presented here generally reflect well the magnitude of the shocks on activity in recent months, but month−to−month variations in certain specific sectors may possibly suffer from lags compared to activity. Indeed, the measurement of services production change is based mostly on invoicing computed from VAT declarations which may in some cases be lagged, as for example in the case of employment activities (temporary employment).

In the following paragraphs, percentage changes by subsections are presented in descending order of their contribution to the overall percentage change of the services production index. The contribution of a subsection takes into account its weight and the magnitude of its evolution.

All data are corrected for seasonal and working day effects (SA-WDA).

In February 2021, output in services bounced back slightly (+1.1% after −4.5% in January). Compared with February 2020 (last month before the first lockdown), it remained however sharply down (−9.0%).

In February 2021, output was up in a majority of sectors

In February 2021, output bounced back sharply in administrative and support services activities (+6.5% after –4.7%), where all sub-sectors were up except for travel agencies and tour operators. Output rose again in transportation and storage (+4.7% after + 1.6%), and bounced back in real estate activities (+1.7% after –2.9%) and accommodation and food services activities (+ 1.7% after –9.7%). Conversely, output fell again in information-communication (–2.4% after –1.9%), specialised, scientific and technical activities (–0.7% after –8.1%) and arts, entertainment and recreation (–6.6% after –7.2%).

Output in services was at a lower level (−9.0%) than in February 2020, in particular in accommodation and food services activities (−56.2%), arts, entertainment and recreation (−50.8%). The decline was more moderate in administrative and support services activities (–3.8%), specialised, scientific and technical activities (–2.0%), real estate activities (−3.0%) and transportation and storage (−3.0%), with - in the latter sector - a collapse in air transport (−56.4%). The information-communication sector was the only sector on increase compared to February 2020 (+3.4%).

Index of services production

Index of services production
Business support (MN) Transportation and storage (H) Accommodation & food service (I) Information-communication (J) All services (SPI)
2016-01 101.97 101.02 100.84 102.74 101.36
2016-02 102.87 104.41 102.49 104.99 103.4
2016-03 99.77 101.98 102.32 103.8 100.98
2016-04 100.6 100.8 102.04 101.29 100.74
2016-05 102.21 101.39 102.84 102.99 102.11
2016-06 102.74 100.27 102.75 103.92 102.25
2016-07 100.3 101.06 102.86 104.49 101.58
2016-08 104.8 102.72 103.22 105.22 103.95
2016-09 102.61 98.68 104.07 105.36 102.55
2016-10 102.92 102.0 103.19 103.47 102.11
2016-11 104.35 102.35 103.6 105.57 104.21
2016-12 103.41 102.7 105.01 105.3 104.25
2017-01 106.05 104.09 104.96 104.35 104.84
2017-02 105.13 102.53 106.24 108.13 105.25
2017-03 107.2 104.26 107.26 110.61 106.69
2017-04 103.3 102.74 107.07 106.66 104.08
2017-05 108.86 107.1 106.64 110.13 107.3
2017-06 107.88 105.54 106.3 108.96 106.69
2017-07 107.94 106.83 108.59 113.25 108.49
2017-08 107.77 104.33 109.16 110.68 107.2
2017-09 107.71 103.65 108.5 111.77 107.05
2017-10 109.03 105.48 109.89 110.19 108.19
2017-11 108.58 104.07 112.29 111.78 108.58
2017-12 112.35 106.45 109.84 113.0 109.9
2018-01 111.72 109.39 112.32 113.34 111.42
2018-02 109.91 105.84 109.71 114.66 109.42
2018-03 109.95 106.5 110.81 114.09 109.09
2018-04 114.58 107.06 111.82 117.11 112.17
2018-05 111.73 103.85 113.38 115.62 110.61
2018-06 114.04 107.96 111.62 117.12 111.7
2018-07 112.19 106.57 111.37 118.86 111.18
2018-08 115.24 108.08 112.62 116.62 113.38
2018-09 115.75 106.85 114.48 116.87 112.93
2018-10 115.94 108.59 114.95 122.53 114.35
2018-11 116.08 108.09 114.23 119.18 113.68
2018-12 117.66 108.61 115.36 116.97 114.15
2019-01 113.98 108.04 115.48 119.7 113.11
2019-02 117.02 110.2 117.51 119.82 115.45
2019-03 118.23 109.11 116.75 122.07 115.87
2019-04 117.96 109.99 117.53 122.1 115.69
2019-05 118.0 109.23 116.04 122.92 115.79
2019-06 117.14 109.13 119.17 122.37 115.73
2019-07 116.77 108.84 116.15 123.74 115.98
2019-08 119.24 111.66 119.16 126.56 117.51
2019-09 119.72 111.78 119.1 125.84 117.67
2019-10 119.25 111.43 119.74 125.2 117.02
2019-11 119.42 108.81 120.15 125.24 116.84
2019-12 117.87 107.76 120.11 125.45 116.34
2020-01 120.05 105.7 121.41 125.58 116.97
2020-02 117.91 104.43 115.56 123.9 115.12
2020-03 107.48 94.37 58.63 125.09 100.3
2020-04 101.51 82.53 21.08 117.94 87.35
2020-05 99.37 74.75 32.87 114.59 88.45
2020-06 105.14 84.3 75.88 125.43 99.55
2020-07 103.85 96.47 95.06 123.58 102.71
2020-08 106.51 95.18 105.55 128.33 106.9
2020-09 112.85 96.82 99.41 123.51 109.58
2020-10 116.24 98.26 87.75 127.81 109.02
2020-11 115.3 97.67 47.28 128.32 103.07
2020-12 120.31 95.3 55.05 133.76 108.54
2021-01 112.19 96.82 49.72 131.19 103.64
2021-02 114.61 101.35 50.56 128.08 104.78

Index of services production

  • Sources: DGFiP, INSEE

Variation in the services production

2015 based, SA-WDA
Variation in the services production (2015 based, SA-WDA)
Nace classification Weight (1) Feb.2021 Change in %
Feb. 2021/Jan. 2021 Jan. 2021/Dec. 2020 Feb. 2021/Feb. 2020 Q/Q-1(2) Q/ Q-4(3)
Index of services production 10000 104.8 1.1 -4.5 -9.0 -1.5 -9.0
H Transportation and storage 1504 101.3 4.7 1.6 -3.0 0.2 -7.7
49 Land transport… 715 105.3 4.4 -0.7 -2.3 -4.3 -5.4
50 Water transport 36 166.7 -7.6 32.5 39.4 16.2 21.8
51 Air transport 115 46.5 -3.8 -5.2 -56.4 23.8 -54.5
52 Warehousing and support for transportation 504 110.0 12.9 3.2 7.6 3.1 -3.8
53 Postal and courier activities 135 77.3 -16.1 0.3 -13.3 2.6 -3.2
I Accommodation and food service activities 870 50.6 1.7 -9.7 -56.2 -33.7 -56.5
55 Accommodation 205 43.5 3.9 -5.9 -59.8 -26.3 -60.3
56 Food and beverage service activities 664 52.7 1.1 -10.6 -55.2 -35.4 -55.4
J Information-communication 1635 128.1 -2.4 -1.9 3.4 3.5 4.8
58 Publishing activities 208 117.5 3.2 -8.9 8.5 7.7 8.7
59 Motion picture, sound recording, music publishing 119 89.7 -2.0 -9.2 -14.5 -4.0 -12.1
60 Programming and broadcasting activities 71 106.3 9.4 -20.9 -2.1 -3.7 -1.6
61 Telecommunications 415 114.1 -8.8 -0.8 4.5 7.1 10.9
62 Computer programming... 720 142.2 -1.6 2.2 2.7 2.0 2.2
63 Information services 102 166.7 0.0 -4.4 14.3 5.6 15.9
L Real estate activities 964 98.1 1.7 -2.9 -3.0 -0.2 -2.8
M+N Business support 4289 114.6 2.2 -6.7 -2.8 0.8 -2.4
M Specialised, scientific and technical activities 2540 113.0 -0.7 -8.1 -2.0 0.4 0.8
69 Legal and accounting activities 502 123.4 0.5 -2.2 3.5 0.9 3.4
70 Activities of head offices and management consultancy 739 110.6 -4.0 -0.7 -1.7 2.6 -0.6
71 Architecture and engineering activities 491 120.7 10.8 -5.8 3.5 -1.3 -4.6
72 Scientific research and development 559 97.0 -9.0 -24.1 -14.2 -1.5 5.6
73 Advertising and market research 146 96.0 2.7 -6.5 -6.2 0.8 -6.0
74 Other professional, scientific and technical activities 79 157.6 2.0 -1.0 7.6 1.0 5.3
75 Veterinary activities 26 137.3 1.1 -0.2 11.9 2.3 10.5
N Administrative and business service activities 1748 117.0 6.5 -4.7 -3.8 1.3 -6.9
77 Rental and leasing activities 526 119.9 1.6 -2.4 -11.4 -1.2 -8.7
78 Employment activities 502 119.6 10.0 -3.7 -0.4 4.6 -8.8
79 Travel agency, tour operator 35 16.2 -26.0 -22.5 -80.7 -31.4 -76.3
80 Security and investigation 104 116.0 2.0 2.4 6.1 -3.2 0.2
81 Services to building and landscape anctivities 245 126.8 7.4 -5.1 9.9 -0.1 4.6
82 Other administrative and business support activities 336 112.1 11.2 -11.4 -2.4 4.9 -5.3
R+S Household services 738 75.6 -5.1 -7.6 -36.4 -6.5 -32.7
R Arts, entertainment and recreation 460 61.9 -6.6 -7.2 -50.8 -20.9 -47.2
S Other personal services 278 98.2 -3.5 -8.1 -8.7 15.9 -4.9
  • (1) Weight (10 000 = H…S excepting K, O, P, Q)
  • (2) last three months / previous three months
  • (3) Year-on-year: last three months / same three months of previous year
  • Note : given the discrepancies that may exist between the use of temporary employment and the invoices used to establish production indices, the evolution of output observed in the last two months in the sector of employment activities does not necessarily reflect well the evolution of activity over this period in the current particular circumstances.
  • Sources : DGFiP, Insee

Over a year, output was down sharply

In the services sectors as a whole, output for the last three months (from December to February) was 9.0% lower than for the same period a year earlier.

Output fell sharply in accommodation and food services activities (−56.5%), arts, entertainment and recreation (−47.2%), transportation and storage (−7.7%) and administrative and support services activities (−6.9%). The decline was more moderate in real estate activities (−2.8%). Conversely, output was up in information-communication (+4.8%) and specialised, scientific and technical activities (+0.8%).

Revisions

The month-on-month percentage change of the index of services production in January 2021 has been revised upwards by 0.1 points. Initially published at −4.6%, it is now evaluated at −4.5%.

Revision of variations

in percentage points
Revision of variations (in percentage points)
Jan.21/ Dec.20 Dec.20/Nov.20 Nov.20/Oct.20 Q4 2020/Q3 2020 2020/2019
Services production 0.13 0.05 0.01 -0.05 0.11
Raw series 0.45 0.01 -0.05 -0.01 0.09
SA-WDA parameters -0.32 0.04 0.06 -0.04 0.02
  • How to read: in the services industries, the SA-WDA percentage change in output between December 2020 and January 2021 is revised by +0.13 points: +0.45 points due to the revisions of raw data and -0.32 points due to the update of SA-WDA parameters
  • Sources : DGFiP, Insee

For Further informations

Next issue 28 May 2021 at 12.00

Documentation

Services Prod index (pdf,35 Ko)

Turnover indices (pdf,28 Ko)

Pour en savoir plus

: bureau-de-presse@insee.fr