After advancing 1.5% in the previous month, volume of services rendered in Brazil grew 0.9% in May. With this result, the sector is 11.5% above the pre-pandemic level, whose milestone is February 2020, and 2.0% below the peak of the time series, hit in December last year. The cumulative index in the year expanded 4.8%, whereas the advance was of 6.4% in 12 months. These are data from the Monthly Survey of Services - PMS, released today (12) by the IBGE.

Among five activities investigated by the survey, four of them advanced in May. The biggest impact on the overall index came from the sector of transportation, which grew 2.2%, recovering part of the loss of 4.3% registered in April. Within this activity, cargo transportation advanced 3.7%, reaching the peak in the time series, started in 2011. As a result, this category stayed 41.3% above the level recorded in February 2020. After retreating 4.5% in the previous month, passenger transportation expanded in May (2.8%) as well.

“Beyond spreading positive rates along the activities, the highlight in the expansion of services in May was the sector of transportation. Concerning the type of use, both cargo transportation and passenger transportation advanced this month. Under the point of view of the transportation modal, the major impacts for the positive result came from road transportation of cargo, air transportation of passengers and water transportation of cargo. Two segments leveraged the last activity: maritime and port support navigation, related to support services to petroleum platforms, and waterway and cabotage transportation, which is linked with cargo transportation within the country,” explains Rodrigo Lobo, manager of the survey.

The researcher states that the good performance of enterprises of cargo transportation is linked with the current moment of the agricultural sector, among other factors. “The records in the grain harvests manage to influence transportation, especially road transportation of cargo. That impact did not begin today. From May 2020 onwards, still in the beginning of the pandemic, this sector registered a significant growth, due to the increase in the agricultural production and to the boom of electronic commerce, with the large-scale migration of sales from physical stores to on-line platforms,” analyzes Lobo.

After transportation, services rendered to families was the sector that mostly influenced the overall result. It had grown 1.0% in April and advanced 1.1% in May, accumulating a gain of 2.2% in the period. “This result in May is mainly due to catering and other services of prepared food, highlighted by companies that supply prepared food to other companies, like planes, prisons and university restaurants,” exemplifies him.

Still compared with April, the sector of other services, which came from two consecutive drops, advanced 0.6%. Within this activity, the highlights were auxiliary financial services, influenced by the increase in the revenue of securities brokerages and of management of stock exchange and organized over-the-counter markets. Having also retreated in April (-1.1%), the sector of information and communication (0.2%) stayed on the positive side in May.

On the other hand, the only activity that retreated was professional, administrative and complementary services (-1.0%), which retracted for the second consecutive month, accumulating a loss of 1.5% in the period. “This sector was impacted by enterprises of business intermediation,  legal activities, and billing and cadastral information,” points out the researcher.

In the regional analysis, volume of services expanded in 24 Federation Units. Mato Grosso (22.5%), Rio de Janeiro (3.4%), Minas Gerais (2.6%), Rio Grande do Sul (2.0%) and Goiás (5.0%) exerted the biggest influences on the overall result.

The highest magnitude of Mato Grosso´s rate is also due to the increase in the agricultural output. “Most services investigated in transportation in Mato Grosso have been having a good performance, which leverages the result in the state. The agricultural sector, which has been showing a record harvest, influences a lot the road transportation of cargo. As a whole, transportation represents 77% of the services in Mato Grosso, so any up or down movement determines the result of the sector in the state,” highlights Lobo. Compared with May last year, the expansion of the services sector in the state was of 29.4%.

Volume of services grows 4.7% in the inter-annual comparison

When compared with May last year, volume of the services sector grew 4.7%, the 27th consecutive positive rate in this indicator. The growth was widespread along all five activities investigated and, among them, the major impact came from transportation, support services to transportation and mailing (7.1%). Among the major influences on the positive result of this activity is the growth in the revenue of companies of road transportation of cargo and air transportation of passengers. 

The other expansions were recorded by the sectors of information and communication (4.0%), professional, administrative and complementary (3.4%), services rendered to families (2.8%) and  other services (0.3%).

Tourism activities grow 4.0% in May

The index of tourism activities grew 4.0% in May. It is the second positive figure in a row, a period in which it accumulated a gain of 4.7%. As a result, the segment is 5.6% above the level of February 2020 and 1.9% below the peak in the time series, hit in February 2014.  Eleven out of 12 places surveyed grew, highlighted by São Paulo (2.8%), followed by Rio de Janeiro (3.8%), Minas Gerais (3.3%) and Bahia (5.1%). The only retraction was in Ceará (-0.6%).

Compared with May last year, the sector advanced 8.6%, mainly leveraged by the increase in the revenue of enterprises that work in the sectors of air transportation of passengers, car rental, catering services, mass road transportation and travel agencies. Ten out of 12 Federation Units where the indicator is investigated followed the advance. Among them, the highlight was São Paulo (6.6%), followed by Rio de Janeiro (15.0%), Minas Gerais (17.0%) and Bahia (13.6%). The negative impacts came from Ceará (-3.4%) and the Federal District (-1.9%).

More about the survey

The PMS produces indicators to monitor the short-term behavior of the services sector in Brazil. The survey investigates the gross revenue from services in formal enterprises that employ 20 or more persons, in which the main activity is a non-financial service, excluding the areas of health and education. It produces results for Brazil and all the Federation Units. Results are available on Sidra.

This is the fifth release of the new time series of the survey, which updated the sample of enterprises, as well as included methodological changes to portray economic changes in the society. They are updatings already scheduled and periodically implemented by the IBGE. The next release of the Monthly Survey of Services will be on August 10.