Sales of the services sector rose 23.4% in June, with the hotel industry in the lead

MADRID, 18 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The services sector increased its turnover by 23.4% in June compared to the same month of 2021, moderating the rise registered the previous month by 4.2 points, as reported on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

With the advance in June, the least pronounced since last March, services have chained 16 consecutive months of year-on-year increases after a year of falls as a result of the pandemic.

Within services, hospitality (accommodation services and food and beverage services) was the sector that increased its sales the most in June, 54.2% compared to the same month in 2021.

Specifically, accommodation services more than doubled their sales in June in the interannual rate (115.7%), while food and beverage services invoiced 32.9% more.

Along with these activities, but already outside the hotel industry, the increase in sales of travel agencies and tour operators also stands out, which multiplied by more than three (214.7%), and air transport, which multiplied them for more than two (161.8%).

For its part, commerce increased its annual turnover by 21.4%, while other services, which includes hospitality along with other subsectors, registered a 27.5% increase in sales compared to June 2021.

Within trade, the greatest year-on-year increase in sales was experienced by wholesale trade (26.9%), followed by retail trade (14.9%) and the sale and repair of vehicles, which increased its turnover by 5.2 % year-on-year in June.

In the case of other services, the highest annual increase in sales was recorded by the hotel industry (54.2%), followed by administrative activities and auxiliary services (42.2%); transportation and storage (33.1%); professional, scientific and technical activities (13.7%), and information and communications (11.4%).

By autonomous communities, all of them increased their turnover in the interannual rate last June. The greatest advances in sales in the services sector occurred in the Balearic Islands (62%), the Canary Islands (40%), Galicia (29.3%), Navarra (29.2%) and Madrid (24.5%), while that minors were registered in Cantabria and Extremadura (14.5% in both cases) and La Rioja (15.4%).

Adjusted for the calendar effect and seasonality, the turnover of the services sector increased by 23.5% in June compared to the same month of 2021, a rate 3.1 points lower than that of May.

In the first six months of the year, sales in the services sector grew by an average of 23.5% (23.1% in the seasonally adjusted series), highlighting the rises in travel agencies (320.2%), travel services accommodation (223.5%) and air transport (171.8%).

SALES FALL 1.1% IN THE MONTH

In monthly terms and in data adjusted for seasonality and calendar, the services sector recorded a monthly decline in its sales of 1.1% in June after two months of increases.

Within other services, which increased their sales by 1.6% in the month, turnover rose in all subsectors, especially in hospitality (3%) and in professional activities (1.9%). It was followed by information and communications (1.6%), transportation and storage (1.4%) and administrative activities (0.7%).

Commerce, for its part, cut its sales by 2.1% in June in relation to the previous month, exclusively due to the drop in turnover of wholesale trade (-1.6%), since retail trade and sales and repair of vehicles increased their turnover by 1.1% and 1.7%, respectively.

By subsectors, the largest monthly upturns in sales occurred in the cinematographic, television program and music publishing activities (57.6%); legal activities and consultancy (8.7%) and air transport (5.5%).

Among the monthly decreases in sales, those registered by accommodation services stood out, which invoiced 6.1% less than in May; travel agencies (-4.4%) and wholesale trade (-1.6%).

EMPLOYMENT MODERATES ITS GROWTH RATE

For the fifteenth consecutive month and after more than a year of falls, employment in the services sector grew in June, and did so at a year-on-year rate of 4.8%, a rate eight tenths lower than that of May.

In June, occupancy in other services rose by 6.5% year-on-year and by 2.2% in commerce. Within the other services, the hotel industry was the one that increased occupancy the most, 13.2% compared to a year earlier.

In June, all the communities presented year-on-year increases in employment in the services sector. The Balearic Islands once again took the lead by increasing the number of employed persons in the sector by 15.6% year-on-year, being the only region with a double-digit increase in employment.

Behind it, the interannual advances in employment in the Canary Islands (7.3%), Catalonia (5.8%), Extremadura (5.2%) and Madrid (5%) stand out, while the more moderate increases were recorded Aragon (0.8%), Castilla y León (1.6%) and La Rioja (1.7%)