Press Release 15/09/2021

SERVICE SECTOR INDEX. OTHER MARKET SERVICES. II/2021

Sales in the market services sector in the Basque Country in the second quarter of 2021 showed a year-on-year increase of 26.8%

Cumulative growth in the first quarter of 2021 was 7.3%

Sales in the Other Market Services sector in the Basque Country rose by 26.8% in the second quarter of 2021 in relation to the same quarter of 2020 at constant prices and once calendar effects had been eliminated, according to Eustat data. This sector includes the services offered by the sectors of Hospitality, Transport & Storage, Information & Communications and Corporate Services Activities. In the year-to-date, the cumulative increase stands at 7.3%.

Compared to the previous quarter, at constant prices and once corrected for seasonal effects, sales increased by 1.5% in the second quarter of 2021.

Within the Services sector, there was a generalised year-on-year increase in real sales (at constant prices). This growth was led by the Hospitality sector, which experienced a rise of 81.1% and Transport and Storage, up 34.3%. The other sectors also registered significant growth: in the case of Administrative Activities and Auxiliary Services, the increase reached 17.7%; the Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities sector rose by 11.5%; and finally, the Information & Communications sector was up by 6.2%.

In comparison with the first sector of 2021, sales increased in all sectors. Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities increased their sales by 3.9%; Transport & Storage by 3.2%; Hospitality by 2.4%; sales in the Information and Communications sector increased by 2.2%; and, finally, in Administrative Activities & Auxiliary Services sales were up by 1.2%.

By province, there was a generalised year-on-year increase. In Álava the sales index was 35.2% higher than in the second quarter of 2020, in Gipuzkoa it was up 31.8% and in Bizkaia the year-on-year increase stood at 22.8%.

In terms of the cumulative variation up to this second quarter of 2021, Álava also led growth, with a cumulative increase of 11.7%. In Gipuzkoa the cumulative year-on-year variation in the two quarters of 2021 stood at 9.0% and in Bizkaia at 5.5%.

In relation to the first quarter of 2021, sales increased by 2.7% in Gipuzkoa and by 1.5% in Bizkaia. In Álava, however, there was a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 1.5%.

The index of people employed in Market Services as a whole for the Basque Country rose by 1.3% in the year-on-year period. In relation to the previous quarter growth stood at 0.9%.

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 second quarter of 2021 was calculated with 95.86% coverage.

For further information:

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