These last few years, the service sector became more important compared to the industry sector. That is why we also calculate an output price index for services. This new index is calculated on a quarterly basis and currently measures the price evolution with services companies from such branches as transport, information services and telecommunication.
In 2018, this price index will be extended to several other sectors, including telecommunication, scientific and technical activities and rental and leasing activities. Nearly all the tertiary sector (except for financial and insurance activities) will then be covered. Commercial service prices are usually largely determined by staff costs. Therefore, these indices fluctuate less than the price indices for the industry, where the price evolution can strongly vary because of the price volatility of materials. That is why we chose a quarterly index, unlike the monthly output price indices for the industry.
Compared to 2010, output prices have registered the smallest increase in the sector of advertising and market research (73). In the quite volatile sector of sea and coastal freight water transport (50.2), we even notice a price decrease. The sharpest relative price increase concerns the sector of architectural and engineering activities; technical testing and analysis (71).