Press Release 15/02/2022

SERVICE SECTOR INDEX. OTHER MARKET SERVICES. IV/2021

Cumulative sales in Market Services for 2021 increased by 9.3% in the Basque Country

In the fourth quarter of 2021, sales were up 13.0% on those observed in the same quarter of the previous year

Sales in the Market Services sector rose by 9.3% in the cumulative total for 2021 in the Basque Country, at constant prices, according to Eustat data.

By sector, sales in Transport & Storage recovered by 16.7% and sales in Hospitality by 16.2%. Growth was more moderate in the Administrative Activities & Auxiliary Services sector, where the annual increase stood at 5.0%, in Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, with 2.0%, and, lastly, in the Information & Communications sector, where sales in 2021 were 0.5% higher than those observed in 2020.

It is worth highlighting that cumulative sales in the Transport & Storage sector throughout 2021 exceeded those recorded in 2019, prior to COVID-19.

All three provinces registered positive trends in 2021 as a whole, with Álava being the province to show the greatest dynamism in relation to the previous year, registering growth of 12% at constant prices. In Gipuzkoa, the cumulative rise throughout the year stood at 9.7% and in Bizkaia it was 8.4%.

In 2021, there was a 0.4% drop in the number of personnel employed in the Market Services sector compared to the previous year.

Looking at data from the fourth quarter of 2021 alone, at constant prices and in homogeneous terms of the working calendar, sales in the Market Services sector in the Basque Country posted a 13.0% increase compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year.

With regard to the previous quarter, and once any seasonal effects had been eliminated, sales in the Market Services sector grew by 2.8% in the last quarter of the year.

Within the Market Services sector, the year-on-year performance for the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the same quarter of the previous year was positive in the majority of subsectors. In the last quarter of the year, sales in Hospitality recovered by 44.8% in year-on-year terms, in Transport & Storage they were up 19.9% and in Administrative Activities and Auxiliary Services growth stood at 8.2%. In the Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities subsector, however, there were negative results, with a 2.0% drop in sales in year-on-year terms. Finally, within Market Services specialised in Information and Communications, the year-on-year variation in sales was 0.0%.

All three provinces experienced year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2021. In Álava, the increase stood at 16.1%, in Bizkaia it was 12.8% and, lastly, in Gipuzkoa it was 12.2%.

Finally, the index of people employed in the Basque Country saw a positive variation of 0.5% in the last quarter of 2021 compared to the last quarter of 2020 and 0.6% in relation to the previous quarter.

NOTE

Included as persons employed considered in this and other short-term indices, are those covered by an ERTE (Temporary Labour Force Adjustment Plan), following the definition of persons employed indicated by the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) in its manual Methodology of Short Term Business Statistics.

The models used in the correction of calendar effects and deseasonalisation of the series include the effect of COVID-19 on the variables studied, following the recommendations of the Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) in its methodological note Guidance on Time Series Treatment in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

Eustat would like to thank all the establishments that have collaborated in making this effort despite the circumstances. As a result, the index for the fourth quarter of 2021 was calculated with 94.10% coverage.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62