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Data and analysis from Census 2021

Home Economy National accounts Balance of payments UK trade in services by

industry, country and service type
UK trade in services by industry, country and service type: 2016 to 2018
Breakdown of UK trade in services by industry, country and service type on a
balance of payments basis using a new experimental dataset.

This is the latest release.

View previous releases

Contact:
Abi CaseyRelease date:
28 February 2020
Next release:
To be announced
Table of contents
Main points
Introduction
Things you need to know about this release
The top 10 exporting industries exported more to non-EU than EU countries in 2018
The top 10 importing industries imported more from non-EU than EU countries in 2018
Explore the new trade in services data with our interactive tool
UK trade data
Measuring the data
Print this Article

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1.Main points
The UK trade in services surplus narrowed by £1.2 billion in 2018 to £109.6
billion.

Imports increased by more than exports; UK services imports increased by £16.4

billion to £197.3 billion, while exports increased by a lesser £15.3 billion to
£306.9 billion.

The financial services activities, except insurance and pension funding industry,
was the largest exporter and importer of services; this industry’s exports
increased by £3.4 billion to £55.8 billion, while imports increased by £3.2 billion
to £27.1 billion in 2018.

UK services exports to the United States saw the largest increase of any country in
2018, increasing £3.9 billion to £71.8 billion; this was largely caused by a £1.3
billion (20.6%) increase in exports from the computer programming, consultancy and
related activities industry.

Ireland saw the largest country-level increase in imports to the UK, increasing
£3.4 billion to £11.3 billion in 2018; imports from the wholesale trade, except for
the motor vehicles and motorcycles industry, caused this change, increasing £0.8
billion to £1.3 billion.

Back to table of contents

2.Introduction
This release looks at trade in services by country, service type and industry on a
balance of payments (BoP) basis. This release is accompanied by a rich dataset to
help users explore which industries contribute most to the trade in services
aggregates, which countries they trade with and which service types they trade.

Back to table of contents

3.Things you need to know about this release
Experimental Statistics
It is important to emphasise that the statistics included within this release are
experimental. The methodology used to compile the data are subject to future
improvements. Further detail regarding the methodology used to compile the
statistics can be found in Section 8.

After EU withdrawal
As the UK leaves the EU, it is important that our statistics continue to be of high
quality and are internationally comparable. During the transition period, those UK
statistics that align with EU practice and rules will continue to do so in the same
way as before 31 January 2020. We will continue to produce statistics broken down
to EU and non-EU aggregates.

After the transition period, we will continue to produce our international trade
statistics in line with the UK Statistics Authority's (UKSA's) Code of Practice for
Statistics and in accordance with internationally agreed statistical guidance and
standards. This is based on the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) Balance of
Payments and International Investment Position Manual sixth edition (BPM6), until
those standards are updated.

Data published in UK trade statistical releases also form part of the broader
system of UK National Accounts, which will be produced in line with international
standards as laid down in the European System of Accounts (ESA) 2010 until the EU
budgets are finalised for the years in which we were a member, as specified in the
Withdrawal Agreement.

Abbreviations
In this release, the financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding industry will be abbreviated to “financial service activities”, while the
computer programming, consultancy and related activities industry will be
abbreviated to “computer programming and consultancy”. This is for ease of reading.

Disclosure control
Data are subject to disclosure control meaning some data have been suppressed to
protect confidentiality such that individual traders cannot be identified. For this
reason, when we refer to rankings or contributions of exports or imports for a
given year, this only considers data that have not been suppressed.
Data
Data within this release provide estimates of trade in services only; UK trade in
goods by industry, country and commodity was published on 24 April 2019 and the
latest figures will be published on 27 March 2020.

Data in this release are in current prices and are subject to rounding. Small
rounding discrepancies may therefore exist.

It is important to note that analyses presented in this article do not include data
that have been suppressed to protect individual trader confidentiality. This means
contributions to services by industry do not include any data that have been
suppressed.

The data are available to users via two datasets to minimise the amount of data we
need to suppress. Publishing the data in this way reduces the number of dimensions
in the data, meaning we can reduce the amount of data that are suppressed.

The datasets contain country by industry (Standard Industrial Classification (SIC),

two-digit) data by total service types for 67 countries and country regional
groupings (including EU, non-EU and whole world) and country region by service type
(Extended Balance of Payments (EBoPs), one-digit), by industry (SIC, two-digit).

Estimates derived from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) are used to help
measure exports and imports of travel services. It is not possible to allocate
individuals undertaking personal travel to an industry. Therefore, estimates of
trade in personal travel services are reported under “no industry”. It is possible
to allocate business travel to an industry based on the industry the business
travellers are employed within. However, it has not yet been possible to undertake
this mapping. Therefore, estimates of trade in business travel services are
currently reported under “unknown industry”. There are other specific cases where
our source data does not contain industry information for some products; in these
cases, this has been mapped to “unknown industry”. We will look to improve this in
the next release. As such, please note that estimates categorised as either “no
industry” or “unknown industry” are not included in our top 10 industries
calculations and have been excluded from total trade in services for the purpose of
percentage of total calculations.

There are two files accompanying this release, one for exports and one for imports,
and each file contains both datasets. To view the dataset for country by industry,
filter the dataset to service type “0 Total Services”. This will provide estimates
by country for each industry across all products. To view the dataset for region by
industry and service type, filter the data to include all service types other than
“0 Total Services”.

Revisions
Data in this release have been revised back to 2016 and are consistent with UK
trade in services by partner country, published on 22 January 2020. For Blue Book
and Pink Book 2019, there were a range of trade-specific methodological
improvements outlined in Impact of Blue Book 2019 developments on UK trade data,
1997 to 2016.

Trade asymmetries
These data are our best estimates of bilateral UK trade flows, compiled following
internationally agreed standards and using a wide range of robust data sources.
However, in some cases alternative estimates of bilateral trade flows are available
from the statistical agencies for those countries or through central databases such
as UN Comtrade. Differences between estimates are known as trade asymmetries and
are a known aspect of international trade statistics, affecting bilateral estimates
across the globe, not just in the UK.

We are heavily engaged in analysis of these asymmetries, developing strong

bilateral relationships with other countries to understand, explain and potentially
reduce them. We have produced a series of analyses showing comparisons and the
relative strengths of different estimates, which users may wish to reference to
help them better understand the quality of our bilateral trade estimates.

Back to table of contents

4.The top 10 exporting industries exported more to non-EU than EU countries in 2018
Note that exports undertaken by an unknown industry are not included within this
analysis and have been excluded from total trade in services for the purpose of
percentage of total calculations (see Section 3). These data are available in the
accompanying datasets.

Excluding unknown industries, the top 10 industries contributed 61.7% of total UK

services exports in 2018, of which 61.8% were to non-EU countries. The wholesale
trade, except for the motor vehicles and motorcycles industry, was the only top 10
industry that exported more to EU countries than non-EU countries in 2018 (Figure
1).

The largest services-exporting industry in 2018 was the financial service

activities industry (industry 64), which exported £55.8 billion of services; this
was 18.2% of total services exports. Of the £55.8 billion of services exported from
the financial service activities industry, 62.0% went to non-EU countries. The
second-largest industry was computer programming and consultancy (industry 62),
which exported £26.2 billion; this was 8.6% of total services exports in 2018.

Figure 1: The largest services-exporting industry in 2018 was financial service

activities, except insurance and pension funding industry, which exported £55.8
billion
Top 10 services-exporting industries split by EU and non-EU countries, 2018
EUNon-EU64 Financial service activities except insurance and pension funding62
Computer programming consultancy and related activities66 Activities auxiliary to
financial services and insurance activities79 Travel agency tour operator and other
reservation service and related activities65 Insurance reinsurance and pension
funding except compulsory social security46 Wholesale trade except of motor
vehicles and motorcycles55 Accommodation70 Activities of head offices; management
consultancy activities51 Air transport71 Architectural and engineering activities;
technical testing and analysis0510152025303540£ billion
Source: Office for National Statistics – UK trade in services
Download this chartFigure 1: The largest services-exporting industry in 2018 was
financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding industry, which
exported £55.8 billion
Image .csv .xls
In 2018, the largest service type by industry export was financial services
exported by the financial service activities industry (industry 64), at £45.5
billion; this represented 14.8% of total UK exports. This was followed by exports
of insurance and pension services by the insurance, reinsurance and pension
funding, except compulsory social security industry (industry 65), at £16.5 billion
(Table 1). This is the only service type this industry exported to in 2018.

Table 1: In 2018, the largest service type by industry export was financial
services by the financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding
industry, at £45.5 billion
Largest service type by industry exports, 2018
Rank Service type Industry 2018 £ billion % of total
UK exports
1 Financial 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 45.5 14.8
2 Insurance and pension 65 Insurance, reinsurance and pension funding, except
compulsory social security 16.5 5.4
3 Financial 66 Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance
activities 13.8 4.5
4 Travel 79 Travel agency, tour operator and other reservation service and
related activities 13.2 4.3
5 Other business services 62 Computer programming, consultancy and related
activities 11.7 3.8
6 Other business services 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and
pension funding 10.3 3.4
7 Telecommunication services 62 Computer programming, consultancy and
related activities 10.1 3.3
8 Transportation 51 Air transport 9.9 3.2
9 Travel 55 Accommodation 9.8 3.2
10 Other business services 70 Activities of head offices; management consultancy
activities 9.1 3.0
Source: Office for National Statistics – UK trade in services

Download this tableTable 1: In 2018, the largest service type by industry export
was financial services by the financial service activities, except insurance and
pension funding industry, at £45.5 billion
.xls .csv
In 2018, the largest country by industry export was from the financial service
activities industry (industry 64) to the United States, exporting £15.4 billion;
this was an increase of £0.4 billion from 2017. This represented 5.0% of total UK
exports and was the largest country by industry export for 2017 and 2018. The
largest increase was in the computer programming and consultancy industry (industry
62), increasing £1.3 billion to £7.7 billion in 2018, the second-largest country by
industry export (Table 2). While exports from activities auxiliary to financial
services and insurance activities industry (industry 66) to the United States was
the second-largest country by industry export in 2017, it was only the third
largest in 2018, growing by a lesser £0.3 billion to £6.8 billion.

The United States accounts for 74.3% of the top 10 country by industry exports. The
financial service activities industry (industry 64) appears the most frequently in
the top 10 country by industry exports, accounting for 53.1%.

Table 2: In 2018, the largest country by industry export was to the United States
by the financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding industry,
at £15.4 billion
Largest country by industry exports, 2018
Rank Country Industry 2018 £ billion % of total
UK exports
1 United States¹ 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and
pension funding 15.4 5.0
2 United States¹ 62 Computer programming, consultancy and related activities
7.7 2.5
3 United States¹ 66 Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance
activities 6.8 2.2
4 United States¹ 65 Insurance, reinsurance and pension funding, except
compulsory social security 5.2 1.7
5 France 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 4.1 1.3
6 Netherlands 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 4.0 1.3
7 Germany 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 3.8 1.2
8 United States¹ 70 Activities of head offices; management consultancy
activities 3.4 1.1
9 United States¹ 72 Scientific research and development 3.1 1.0
10 Switzerland 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 2.5 0.8
Source: Office for National Statistics – UK trade in services

Notes

United States including Puerto Rico.

Download this tableTable 2: In 2018, the largest country by industry export was to
the United States by the financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding industry, at £15.4 billion
.xls .csv
Exporting industries, 2017 to 2018
The largest increase in total services exports between 2017 and 2018 was within the
computer programming and consultancy industry (industry 62), which increased by
£3.8 billion to £26.2 billion; £3.3 billion of this growth came from increased
exports to non-EU countries. The United States contributed £1.3 billion to the
increase in this industry’s services exports (Figure 2).

The industry with the largest decrease in services exports between 2017 and 2018
was the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailer industry (industry
29); exports fell by £1.1 billion to £1.1 billion largely because of a £0.9 billion
fall in exports to EU countries. Exports to Germany fell £0.5 billion to £0.2
billion in 2018.

Hover over the data points in Figure 2 to see how the change in total industry
services exports between 2017 and 2018 was split between EU and non-EU countries.
Data points in the top-right quadrant show industries that experienced an increase
in services exports with both EU and non-EU regions between 2017 and 2018, while
those in the bottom left show industries that decreased services exports with EU
and non-EU countries. The top-left quadrant includes industries that experienced an
increase in services exports to EU countries but a decrease in services exports to
non-EU countries. The bottom-right quadrant shows industries that increased
services exports to non-EU countries while services exports to EU countries fell.

Figure 2: More UK industries increased their exports to EU countries in 2018

Change in exports by industry, EU compared with non-EU between 2017 and 2018

Embed code
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5.The top 10 importing industries imported more from non-EU than EU countries in
2018
Figure 3 shows the top 10 UK services-importing industries in 2018 disaggregated by
EU and non-EU regions. Note that imports of travel services have not been allocated
to an industry so are not included within this analysis and have been excluded from
total trade in services for the purpose of percentage of total calculations (see
Section 3). These data are available in the accompanying datasets.

The top 10 industries contributed 62.7% of total UK services imports in 2018. The
largest services-importing industries imported more from non-EU countries than EU
countries in 2018, with 57.8% of the top 10 importing industries’ imports coming
from non-EU countries.

The largest services-importing industry in 2018 was the financial service

activities industry (industry 64), which imported £27.1 billion of services making
up 18.6% of total imports of services in 2018. Of the £27.1 billion imported, 69.9%
came from non-EU countries.

The second-largest industry was the computer programming and consultancy industry
(industry 62), which imported £13.1 billion of services, accounting for 9.0% of
total imports of services in 2018.

Figure 3: The largest services-importing industry in 2018 was the financial service
activities, except insurance and pension funding industry, which imported £27.1
billion
Top 10 services-importing industries split by EU and non-EU countries, 2018
EUNon-EU64 Financial service activities except insurance and pension funding62
Computer programming consultancy and related activities46 Wholesale trade except of
motor vehicles and motorcycles51 Air transport79 Travel agency tour operator and
other reservation service and related activities66 Activities auxiliary to
financial services and insurance activities61 Telecommunications71 Architectural
and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis72 Scientific research
and development70 Activities of head offices; management consultancy
activities010202.557.512.51517.5£ billion
Source: Office for National Statistics – UK trade in services
Download this chartFigure 3: The largest services-importing industry in 2018 was
the financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding industry,
which imported £27.1 billion
Image .csv .xls
In 2018, the largest service type by industry import was other business services by
the financial service activities industry (industry 64), at £19.5 billion. This
represented 13.4% of total UK imports (Table 3). While this was also the largest
service type by industry import in 2017, imports grew £1.3 billion in 2018. This
was caused by a £1.6 billion increase in services imports from non-EU countries and
offset by a £0.2 billion decrease in services imports to EU countries.

Table 3: In 2018, the largest service type by industry import was other business
services by the financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding
industry, at £19.5 billion
Largest service type by industry imports, 2018
Rank Service type Industry 2018 £ billion % of total
UK imports
1 Other business services 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and
pension funding 19.5 13.4
2 Financial 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 7.5 5.2
3 Other business services 62 Computer programming, consultancy and related
activities 6.9 4.8
4 Transportation 51 Air transport 6.5 4.5
5 Transportation 79 Travel agency, tour operator and other reservation
service and related activities 6.3 4.3
6 Financial 66 Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance
activities 6.1 4.2
7 Other business services 46 Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and
motorcycles 4.7 3.2
8 Transportation 52 Warehousing and support activities for transportation
4.3 2.9
9 Other business services 71 Architectural and engineering activities;
technical testing and analysis 3.9 2.7
10 Telecommunication services 61 Telecommunications 3.9 2.7
Source: Office for National Statistics – UK trade in services
Download this tableTable 3: In 2018, the largest service type by industry import
was other business services by the financial service activities, except insurance
and pension funding industry, at £19.5 billion
.xls .csv
In 2018, the largest country by industry import was from the United States by the
financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding (industry 64),
at £8.3 billion’ this was 5.7% of total UK imports. This was followed by imports
from the United States by the computer programming and consultancy industry
(industry 62), at £3.3 billion (Table 4).

Table 4: In 2018, the largest country by industry import was from the United States
by the financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding industry,
at £8.3 billion
Largest country by industry imports, 2018
Rank Country Industry 2018 £ billion % of total UK imports
1 United States¹ 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and
pension funding 8.3 5.7
2 United States¹ 62 Computer programming, consultancy and related activities
3.3 2.3
3 United States¹ 72 Scientific research and development 2.9 2.0
4 United States¹ 66 Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance
activities 2.7 1.9
5 Germany 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 2.2 1.5
6 Ireland 62 Computer programming, consultancy and related activities1.9
1.3
7 Hong Kong 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 1.6 1.1
8 France 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 1.4 1.0
9 Singapore 64 Financial service activities, except insurance and pension
funding 1.3 0.9
10 Japan 66 Activities auxiliary to financial services and insurance activities
1.3 0.9
Source: Office for National Statistics – UK trade in services

Notes

United States including Puerto Rico.

Download this tableTable 4: In 2018, the largest country by industry import was
from the United States by the financial service activities, except insurance and
pension funding industry, at £8.3 billion
.xls .csv
Importing industries, 2017 to 2018
The largest increase in services imports between 2017 and 2018 was within the
financial service activities industry (industry 64), which increased by £3.2
billion to £27.1 billion; £2.7 billion of this growth came from increased imports
from non-EU countries (Figure 4).

The industry that experienced the largest decrease in imports between 2017 and 2018
was the warehousing and support activities for transportation industry (industry
52), which decreased by £0.9 billion to £4.4 billion. The negative growth was
driven by imports to EU countries, which decreased by £0.7 billion. At the country
level, France saw the largest decrease of £0.1 billion to £0.4 billion.

Hover over the data points in Figure 4 to see how the change in total industry
imports between 2017 and 2018 was split between EU and non-EU countries. Data
points in the top-right quadrant show industries that experienced an increase in
services imports with both EU and non-EU countries between 2017 and 2018, while
those in the bottom left show industries that decreased with EU and non-EU
countries. The top-left quadrant includes industries that experienced an increase
in imports from EU countries but a decrease in imports from non-EU countries. The
bottom-right quadrant shows industries that increased imports from non-EU countries
while imports from EU countries fell.

Figure 4: More UK industries increased their imports from non-EU countries in 2018
Change in imports by industry, EU compared with non-EU between 2017 and 2018

Embed code
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6.Explore the new trade in services data with our interactive tool
We have produced some interactive tools to help explore the data.

Data are provided in as much detail as possible without disclosing the details of
any individual companies. However, this means some figures have been suppressed to
protect confidentiality. The interactive will show no data available if the data
are zero, suppressed or unavailable at this level of detail. Select a country by
hovering over it or using the drop-down menu.

Figure 5: UK trade in services with the rest of the world, exports and imports,
2018

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Notes:
These data are our best estimate of these bilateral UK trade flows. Users should
note that alternative estimates are available, in some cases, through the
statistical agencies for bilateral countries or through central databases such as
UN Comtrade.
Interactive maps denote country boundaries in accordance with statistical
classifications set out within Appendix 4 of the Balance of Payments (BoP)
Vademecum (PDF, 1.1MB).
Download this chart
.xlsx

Back to table of contents

7.UK trade data
UK trade in services by industry, country and service type, exports
Dataset | Released 28 February 2020
Experimental dataset providing an annual breakdown of UK trade in services exports
by industry, country and service type on a balance of payments (BoP) basis.

UK trade in services by industry, country and service type, imports

Dataset | Released 28 February 2020
Experimental dataset providing an annual breakdown of UK trade in services imports
by industry, country and service type on a BoP basis.

Back to table of contents

8.Measuring the data
The dataset for the trade in services analysis released alongside this article was
compiled by combining data from the International Trade in Services (ITIS) survey,
the International Passenger Survey (IPS) and other non-survey services sources,
with information from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), the Annual
Survey of Goods and Services (ASGS) and the Annual Purchases Survey (APS).

International Trade in Services (ITIS)

The ITIS surveys collect company-level microdata on exports and imports of services
products. Office for National Statistics (ONS) ITIS data are compliant with the
latest international standards, as outlined in the Manual on Statistics of
International Trade in Services 2010 (MSITS 2010).

Breakdowns are available by product, industry and geographical region, and products
are classified using the Extended Balance of Payments Services classification
(EBoPS 2010). The ITIS survey consists of 52 products and 17 product groups, and it
is the main source of UK trade in services data, covering most industries. However,
it has several exceptions such as:

travel
transport
banking and other financial institutions
higher education
charities
most activities within the legal profession
The quarterly sample is made up of approximately 2,200 businesses and the annual
sample is made up of approximately 15,500 businesses. The survey data from both the
quarterly and annual results are combined to produce the annual ITIS estimates and
are used as a main data source to compile total trade in services estimates.

The majority of the data come from the ITIS survey, the largest source of UK trade
in services data. The ITIS survey covers approximately 58% of services exports and
45% of services imports, and it excludes industries in travel, transport, banking
and other financial institutions, higher education, charities, and most activities
within the legal profession.

For industries that the ITIS survey measures, a direct industry breakdown can be
found using the industrial classifications of responding businesses. All businesses
sampled to complete the ITIS survey are sampled from the IDBR, which contains
records of the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) of each business. ITIS
service type by country data are then broken down into industries using this
business-level SIC information and are therefore considered robust.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate

uses, and how the data were created is available in the ITIS QMI.

International Passenger Survey (IPS)

The IPS is a continuous survey (conducted 362 days a year) at major ports of entry
to, or exit from, the UK. The collected data are weighted, and the results feed
into the Travel Account of UK Trade in Services.

Published estimates are based on face-to-face interviews with a random sample of

passengers as they enter or leave the UK by the principal air, sea and tunnel
routes. All interviews are conducted on a voluntary basis. The target number of
interviews is 260,000 per year, although over 300,000 interviews (representing
about 0.2% of travellers) have been conducted annually since 2009 owing to a change
in design. Actions have been taken to come down to pre-2009 levels.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate

uses, and how the data were created is available in the IPS QMI and on the IPS
methodology page.

Non-ITIS services sources

The Chamber of Shipping (CoS) conducts surveys into its members’ participation in
foreign trade, and data from the CoS are uplifted to account for UK sea transport
companies that are not members using estimates for the gross tonnage of the UK
fleet for different types of ship. Information on the financial services industries
is supplied by the Bank of England, the Baltic Exchange, ITIS and other UK National
Statistics surveys. Financial Services Authority, Lloyd’s of London and National
Statistics surveys supply insurance data.

Estimates of exports and imports of services are based on a large number of

administrative sources including the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Ministry of
Defence, Commercial Bar Association, Baltic Exchange, Heathrow Airport Holdings,
NATS Holdings, Gatwick Airport, Manchester Airport, Texaco, BP, ExxonMobil, Trinity
House, HM Immigration, Gambling Commission, Financial Services Authority and Royal
Mail. These are annual and quarterly and accessed on a regular basis.

For the remaining non-ITIS data sources, an industry breakdown is not available and
is therefore estimated based on assumptions made using two alternative data
sources: the ASGS and the APS.

The ASGS was launched in 2017 and measures service industry turnover broken down by
the individual services provided to customers both inside and outside the UK. Data
are collected on a Statistical Classification of Products (goods and services) by
Activity in the EU version 2.1 (CPA) basis, which have been converted to their
equivalent Extended Balance of Payments (EBoP) classification, using the Eurostat
correspondence tables EBoPs 2010 – CPA 2008 (ZIP, 335KB).

An industry by service type mapper is created by using the SIC information for the
businesses sampled to complete the ASGS, with the industry by service type data for
customers outside the UK assumed to represent exports. This mapper is then applied
to existing EBoPs, where ITIS data are not available, to split it down into
industries.

The APS was launched in 2016 and measures each industry’s intermediate consumption
(that is, goods or services used up in the production process). No breakdown is
available between products purchased either abroad or domestically; therefore,
total purchases are assumed to represent imports. Similar to the ASGS, data are
also collected on a CPA basis, which have been converted to their equivalent EBoP
classification, using the Eurostat correspondence tables EBoPs 2010 – CPA 2008
(ZIP, 335KB). An industry by service type mapper is created by using the SIC
information for the businesses sampled to complete the APS.

Please note that no country breakdowns are available from the ASGS and APS;
therefore, the breakdown of countries within each industry is assumed to be the
same. Caution must therefore be taken when interpreting lower-level country by
industry by service type detail where the non-ITIS data sources are used.

Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR)

The IDBR is a comprehensive record of UK businesses compiled and used by the
government for statistical purposes. The IDBR provides the main sampling frame for
ONS business surveys and other government departments, covering over 2.6 million
businesses in all sectors of the UK economy.

The primary data used to maintain the IDBR are provided by HM Revenue and Customs
(HMRC). All firms registered with HMRC for either Value Added Tax (VAT) or Pay As
You Earn (PAYE) purposes are listed, excluding those without employees and with
turnover below the VAT threshold.

The IDBR includes data on the structure of businesses, classifying “VAT units” and
“PAYE units” from the HMRC registrations. “Local units” represent the individual
sites on which the business operates, while “reporting units” are usually made up
of local units that undertake similar activities. The “VAT unit” contains all units
within an enterprise group. Businesses are sampled for the ITIS, ASGS and APS at
the “reporting unit” level.

Annual Survey of Goods and Services (ASGS)

The ASGS was launched by the ONS in summer 2017 in response to one of the main
recommendations from Professor Sir Charles Bean’s independent review of economic
statistics. The recommendation was to provide more comprehensive and detailed
statistics on the services industries for the UK, which were not captured by
existing surveys.

The ASGS collects information on the turnover of a business, broken down into the
individual services and goods provided, as well as whether the turnover was
generated from customers based inside the UK or customers based outside the UK.

Turnover consists of sales to any individual, business entity or other parts of an

organisation. The ASGS has a sample size of approximately 40,000 and measures
service products using the CPA.

Product classifications in the CPA are designed to categorise products that have
common characteristics. They provide the basis for collecting and calculating
statistics on the production, distributive trade, consumption, international trade
and transport of such products.

The ASGS measures UK services industries only and therefore does not collect data
from the production and construction industries (sections A, B, C and F of the
SIC). It covers a large element of the service economy, excluding notable
industries such as public administration.

More information on the ASGS is available within the Development of the ASGS
article.

Annual Purchases Survey (APS)

The APS provides detail on the energy, services, goods and materials used up or
transformed in the production process for and running of UK businesses, otherwise
referred to as intermediate consumption. The APS specifically excludes capital
investment (including fixed assets), staff costs, and goods and services bought for
resale without further processing.

The original Purchases Survey ran from the 1950s to 2006 (with the final reference
period being 2004); it was reintroduced from the 2015 reference period. The APS has
a sample size of approximately 31,000, which is taken from the IDBR, and measures
service products using the CPA. The APS covers a large element of the economy, with
some notable exceptions such as public administration.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate

uses, and how the data were created is available in the APS QMI.

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View all data used in this Article
Contact details for this Article
Abi Casey
trade@ons.gov.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)1633 455121
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