Research from Ezra, a leading provider of digital coaching, has revealed which service industries have best negotiated the COVID-19 landscape and which are still feeling the pinch.
Ezra analysed ONS data on sector performance based on the movement in the volume of output across the UK service industry since the start of the pandemic in January 2020.
The research shows that as a whole, growth across the UK services sector has averaged 1.2% per month despite the problematic landscape posed by the pandemic.
The education services industry has seen the strongest performance, with the average rate of growth hitting 1.6% per month.
Transportation and storage has also performed well growing by 1.4% per month on average, with automotive wholesale and retail repair (1.3%) and human health and social work (1.2%) also seeing an average rate of growth in excess of one per cent per month.
However, not all service industry sectors have performed as well with the ‘activities of households as employers’ sector seeing the largest decline, down -1.9% per month on average.
The information and communication sector has also seen an average monthly decline of -0.5%, with services classed as ‘other service activities’ declining by -0.2% per month on average.
Founder of Ezra, Nick Goldberg, commented:
“The services sector has arguably been one of the hardest hit during the pandemic but it’s interesting to see how this impact differs across each sub-sector.
For example, an early reopening of the property industry and the additional boost of a stamp duty holiday has led to a property market boom, yet the average monthly growth of the sector trails accommodation and food services which has arguably endured one of the hardest periods of uncertainty.”
| Table shows the average monthly growth across each service industry during the pandemic | |
| Sector | Ave monthly growth Covid so far (Jan20-Apr21) % |
| Education | 1.6 |
| Transportation and storage | 1.4 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 1.3 |
| Human health and social work activities | 1.2 |
| Administrative and support services activities | 0.6 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | 0.5 |
| Accommodation and food service activities | 0.4 |
| Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | 0.2 |
| Real estate activities | 0.1 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 0.1 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 0.1 |
| Other service activities | -0.2 |
| Information and communication | -0.5 |
| Activities of households as employers | -1.9 |
| Services overall | 1.2 |
| Data sourced from the Office for National Statistics – Index of Services | |
