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For more information on this release:
E-mail: servicesprices@cso.ie Tony Kelleher (+353) 21 453 5096 Deirdre Dalton (+353) 21 453 5450
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-5139
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Services Producer Price Index

Experimental (Selected Services)
Quarter 3 2018

Price Index (Year 2015=100)% Quarterly change% Annual change
Q1 2018107.01.5%5.1%
Q2 2018106.8-0.3%4.6%
Q3 2018106.90.1%1.4%

Services Producer Prices up 1.4% in the year to Quarter 3 2018

Services Producer Price Index
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The experimental Services Producer Price Index (SPPI) measures changes in the average prices charged by domestic service producers to other businesses for a selected range of services.  In most cases these services are provided to business customers only and so individual price indices should not be considered indicative of more general price trends in the economy.  The index covers transaction costs from business to business and excludes consumers who are covered in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The individual price indices are aggregated together to create a “service industry” index that is limited in coverage. The indices are still under development and may be subject to methodological improvement. Figures should therefore be treated as provisional and subject to revision.  These indices are being published to engage users in the ongoing development of the SPPI methodology.

Services prices in Quarter 3 2018, as measured by the experimental SPPI, were on average 1.4% higher in the year when compared with the same period last year.

The most notable changes in the year were: Warehousing, Storage and Cargo Handling (+5.7%), Postal and Courier (+5.6%), Employment and Human Resource Activities (+3.6%) and Security and Investigation (+2.7%).

Services prices increased by 0.1% in the quarter.  This compares with a decrease of 0.3% recorded in Q2 2018.

The most notable quarterly price changes were: Air Transport (+0.7%), Postal and Courier (+0.7%), Freight and Removal by Road (+0.4%) and Sea and Coastal Transport (-5.1%).

X-axis labelannual % change
Freight and Removal by Road 1.07186916065367
Sea and Coastal Transport1.28434877823855
Air Transport1.58462670944051
Warehousing, Storage and Cargo Handling5.65947092734189
Postal and Courier5.64828881596598
Computer Programming and Consultancy1.17634291796961
Legal, Accounting, PR and Business Consultancy1.01850470136897
Architecture, Engineering and Technical Testing2.30411553902158
Advertising, Media Rep. and Market Research-0.00245150000000601
Employment and Human Resource Activities3.59788009060408
Security and Investigation2.69023971217508
Industrial and Building Cleaning2.29452415011848
X-axis labelannual % change
Freight and Removal by Road 0.0333485308927656
Sea and Coastal Transport0.0108549017734882
Air Transport0.123969220356581
Warehousing, Storage and Cargo Handling0.044007118927968
Postal and Courier0.103877891797125
Computer Programming and Consultancy0.699321308686824
Legal, Accounting, PR and Business Consultancy0.176596316758235
Architecture, Engineering and Technical Testing0.106171018326317
Advertising, Media Rep. and Market Research-4.68706007863833E-05
Employment and Human Resource Activities0.095354009728129
Security and Investigation0.0207899167285695
Industrial and Building Cleaning0.0196814234546094
Table 1 Services Producer Price Index (All Sectors)
Period SPPI Current base 2015 = 100QuarterlyAnnual
   %%
2015Year100.0 -
2016Year100.9 0.9
2017Year103.7 2.8
     
2015Quarter 198.7--
 Quarter 2100.61.9-
 Quarter 3100.70.1-
 Quarter 4100.1-0.6-
2016Quarter 1100.40.21.7
 Quarter 2101.20.80.6
 Quarter 3101.0-0.20.3
 Quarter 4100.90.00.8
2017Quarter 1101.90.81.5
 Quarter 2102.10.20.8
 Quarter 3105.33.24.3
 Quarter 4105.50.24.6
2018Quarter 1107.01.55.1
 Quarter 2106.8-0.34.6
 Quarter 3106.90.11.4
Table 2 Services Producer Price Index (2015 = 100)
Sector Freight and Removal by Road Sea and Coastal TransportAir Transport3 Warehousing, Storage and Cargo HandlingPostal and CourierComputer Programming and ConsultancyLegal, Accounting, Public Relations and Business Management ConsultancyArchitecture, Engineering and Technical TestingAdvertising, Media Representation and Market ResearchEmployment and Human Resource ActivitiesSecurity and InvestigationIndustrial and Building Cleaning
Nace 2 Code 149.450.1/50.25152.1/52.2453.1/53.26269.1/69.2/70.271.1/71.273.1/73.2788081.2
Sectoral Weights23.10.87.70.81.858.317.04.51.92.60.80.8
Annual average            
2015 100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0100.0
2016 100.291.9100.8102.3101.1100.9100.2103.7101.399.7102.6101.1
2017 100.986.2107.5103.8109.8103.8101.1108.3100.8102.599.8101.1
              
Quarterly             
2015Quarter 199.7103.699.099.999.598.099.399.999.7101.199.899.9
 Quarter 2100.398.7106.1100.1100.3100.399.799.999.799.9100.099.8
 Quarter 399.999.5103.0100.0100.4100.7100.599.999.299.4100.099.8
 Quarter 4100.198.291.8100.099.8101.0100.5100.4101.399.6100.1100.5
              
2016Quarter 199.391.395.8102.299.8100.9100.0103.6101.3100.9102.1101.0
 Quarter 299.691.9106.4102.299.7100.9100.1103.6101.399.0102.9101.1
 Quarter 3101.092.2101.3102.2102.2100.9100.3103.7101.398.3102.2101.1
 Quarter 4100.992.099.8102.4102.8100.8100.3103.7101.3100.7103.2101.3
              
2017Quarter 1101.290.2107.6103.1103.5100.8101.1108.1100.8102.5100.9101.0
 Quarter 2100.787.9108.1103.1111.7100.9101.2108.4100.8101.998.9100.9
 Quarter 3100.982.5107.3103.1111.6106.8101.0108.4100.8101.6100.0101.0
 Quarter 4100.984.1106.9106.0112.5106.9101.1108.4100.8104.099.6101.7
              
2018Quarter 1101.284.0114.5108.1113.1108.0101.8109.2100.8107.099.7103.0
 Quarter 2101.588.0108.2109.2117.1108.0101.7110.8100.8105.7102.7103.1
 Quarter 3102.083.5109.0108.9117.9108.0102.0110.9100.8105.2102.7103.3
Annual percentage change%
2015Quarter 1------------
 Quarter 2------------
 Quarter 3------------
 Quarter 4------------
              
2016Quarter 1-0.4-11.9-3.32.40.33.00.63.71.6-0.22.41.2
 Quarter 2-0.6-6.90.32.2-0.60.60.33.71.6-0.92.81.2
 Quarter 31.1-7.3-1.72.21.70.2-0.23.92.1-1.12.11.3
 Quarter 40.8-6.38.72.33.0-0.2-0.23.40.01.13.10.8
              
2017Quarter 12.0-1.212.40.83.7-0.11.24.3-0.51.6-1.2-0.1
 Quarter 21.1-4.31.60.812.10.11.14.6-0.53.0-3.9-0.1
 Quarter 3-0.1-10.65.90.89.35.80.74.5-0.53.4-2.1-0.2
 Quarter 40.0-8.57.23.59.56.00.84.5-0.53.3-3.50.4
              
2018Quarter 10.0-6.96.44.99.37.10.71.00.04.3-1.22.0
 Quarter 20.80.20.15.94.87.00.52.30.03.63.92.2
 Quarter 31.11.31.65.75.61.21.02.30.03.62.72.3
Quarterly percentage change%
2015Quarter 1------------
 Quarter 20.6-4.77.20.20.82.30.40.00.0-1.10.3-0.1
 Quarter 3-0.30.8-2.9-0.10.10.40.70.0-0.5-0.50.00.0
 Quarter 40.2-1.3-10.90.0-0.60.30.00.52.10.20.10.7
              
2016Quarter 1-0.8-7.04.32.20.0-0.1-0.53.20.01.32.00.5
 Quarter 20.40.611.10.0-0.1-0.10.10.00.0-1.90.70.0
 Quarter 31.40.4-4.80.02.50.10.20.10.0-0.7-0.70.1
 Quarter 4-0.1-0.3-1.50.10.6-0.10.00.00.02.51.10.2
              
2017Quarter 10.3-1.97.80.70.70.00.84.2-0.51.8-2.3-0.3
 Quarter 2-0.5-2.60.40.07.90.10.10.30.0-0.6-2.00.0
 Quarter 30.1-6.2-0.70.0-0.15.8-0.20.00.0-0.41.20.1
 Quarter 40.02.1-0.32.80.80.10.10.00.02.4-0.40.7
              
2018Quarter 10.3-0.17.12.10.51.10.70.70.02.80.11.3
 Quarter 20.34.7-5.50.93.50.0-0.11.50.0-1.23.10.1
 Quarter 30.4-5.10.7-0.20.70.00.30.00.0-0.40.00.2
1 Nace Rev 2 statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community
2 Sectoral weights do not total 100 due to rounding differences
3 Air Transport is based on data compiled from the Consumer Price Index

Background Notes

Services Producer Price Index  The Services Producer Price Index (SPPI) is made up of a set of individual price indices that measure changes in the average level of prices charged by producers for a selected range of services supplied to businesses and government. In most cases these services are provided to business customers only and so individual price indices should not be considered indicative of more general price trends in the economy. The index covers transaction costs from business to business and excludes consumers who are covered in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). 

The individual price indices are aggregated together to create a “services industry” index that is limited in coverage. The SPPI is experimental, under development and may be subject to methodological improvement. Figures should therefore be treated as provisional and subject to revision. The index is published to engage users in the ongoing development of the methodology.

Relevancy There are two main uses of SPPI; as a short-term indicator of the business cycle and to provide deflators for national accounts.

Coverage The services producer price index covers a limited range of service industries as set by the European Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 1165/1998 (consolidated). 

The following industries are selected (based on the Nace Rev 2 Classification):

H – Transportation & Storage
49.4 Freight transport by road and removal services
50.1/50.2 Sea and coastal transport
51 Air transport
52.1/52.24 Warehousing, storage and cargo handling
53.1/53.2 Postal and courier activities 
 
J – Information & Communication
62 Computer programming and consultancy
 
M - Professional, Scientific & Technical Activities
69.1/69.2/70.2 Legal, accounting, public relations and business management and consultancy
71.1/71.2 Architecture, engineering and technical testing
73.1/73.2 Advertising, media representation and market research

N – Administrative and Support Services Activities
78 Employment activities
80 Security and investigation activities
81.2 Industrial and building Cleaning

At present the quality of indices for the telecommunications (61) and information service activities (63) are deemed insufficient for publication. 

The published index accounts for approximately 43% of the total value of the traded services sector, excluding Wholesale and Retail Trade, when measured by sales.

Nace Classification The business activity classifications used in this Statistical release are based on the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community i.e. Nace Rev 2. The descriptions of particular NACE Rev 2 sectors are shown in abbreviated form in the release. For further information on the NACE Rev 2 classifications, visit the CSO website http://www.cso.ie/px/u/NACECoder/NACEItems/searchnace.asp

Scope  Regulation (EC) No 1165/1998 (consolidated) requires Member States to provide data on the change in price of services within the business sector. In most cases the CSO collects data on prices charged to Republic of Ireland businesses and government. In several instances prices are collected on the basis of prices charged to all sectors i.e. “Air transport” and “Postal activities under universal service obligation” as these are representative of prices charged to Business customers.

Price Collection All indices in the series are based on prices collected on a quarterly basis, using either the average price per quarter or the price on the 15th of the middle month of the reference period.

Prices used in the compilation of these indices are: 

Exclusive of VAT

Inclusive of surcharges (such as for fuel)

The Air Transport index is constructed using data collected by the Consumer Price Section.

The Employment and Human Resource Activities index is constructed using a combination of survey data and data from the Earnings, Hours and Employment Cost Survey.

Weights  The SPPI has been rebased to 2015 = 100. Weights at Nace Rev2 for 2015 were estimated by the SPPI Section primarily using data from the CSO Annual Services Inquiry. Weights are “gross” – they are based on turnover from sales to all sectors, including non-resident.

Methodology    More information on SPPI’s is available from the Eurostat Methodological guide for developing producer price indices for services which can be viewed at http://www.oecd.org/std/prices-ppp/eurostat-oecd-methodological-guide-for-developing-producer-price-indices-for-services-9789264220676-en.htm Additional methodological information can be found on the website of the Voorburg Group on Services Statistics at www.voorburggroup.org

Calculating percentage changes in the index The movement of the SPPI is expressed as percentage change, rather than a change in index points, because index point changes are affected by the level of the index in relation to its base period, whereas percentage changes are not.                                                            

The example below illustrates the computation of a percentage change:

Percentage Change Calculation

 
Current Index                                                    102.6
Less Previous Index                                        103.7
Equals in index points                                      -1.1
Divided by the previous index                    103.7
Equals -0.0106
Results multiplied by 100 -0.0106*100
Equals percentage change                           -1.1%

 

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