The Brazilian volume of services fell 1.2% in March 2026, compared to the previous month, after stability in February. The drop was followed by all five activities investigated, with emphasis on transportation, with a drop of 1.7%. In relation to the same month in 2025, volume of services expanded 3.0% in March 2026, its 24th consecutive positive result. The information comes from the Monthly Survey of Services (PMS), released today (15) by the IBGE.

“In the last five months, one month of stability and four months of negative changes were observed, which means that the services sector has accumulated a drop of 1.7% since October 2025, the month in which the highest point in the time series was observed. In terms of sector, all five activities investigated showed a drop compared to the immediately previous month. The sector of transportation was mainly responsible for the drop observed in Brazil in this type of comparison. The decline in the sector was mainly influenced by the drop observed in cargo road transportation and air passenger transportation,” explained survey analyst Luiz Carlos de Almeida Junior.

The other drops came from professional, administrative and complementary services (-1.1%); information and communication (-0.9%); other services (-2.0%); and services rendered to families (-1.5%). The first one accumulated a loss of 2.3% in the last four months; the second one returned part of the increase accumulated in the previous three months (2.8%); the third one accumulated a loss of 2.4% in the last two months; and the last one completely offset the expansion recorded in the previous month (1.1%).

In the cumulative index in the year, volume of services expanded 2.3% compared to the same period in 2025. On the other hand, the cumulative index in the last 12 months increased 2.8% in March 2026, maintaining the pace of expansion compared to that observed in February (2.8%) and marked the least intense rate since October 2024 (2.7%).

Services sector rises 3.0% compared to 2025

Volume of the services sector expanded 3.0% compared to March 2025. The advance was followed by four out of five activities surveyed and saw a growth in 51.8% of the 166 types of services investigated. Among the sectors, information and communication (7.9%) exerted the main positive impact, driven mainly by the increase in telecommunications revenue; consulting in information technology; open TV; portals, content providers and other information services on the Internet; and data processing, application service providers and Internet hosting services.

The other advances came from transportation (2.0%); professional, administrative and complementary services (1.1%); and other services (2.7%), largely explained by the greater revenue from cargo road transportation; mass road transportation; maritime and port support navigation; and highway concessionaires, in the first sector; and business intermediation in general through applications or e-commerce platforms; legal activities; surveillance and private security activities; cleaning in buildings and homes; and engineering services, in the second one; and securities brokerages; management of stock exchange and organized over-the-counter markets; and auxiliary activities for insurance, supplementary pensions and health insurance plans, in the latter one. Conversely, services rendered to families (-1.6%) exerted the only negative impact, pressured, to a large extent, by lower revenue from hotels.

São Paulo is the main negative impact with a drop of 2.1%

Among the 27 Federation Units, 13 recorded a decline in volume of services in March 2026, compared to the immediately previous month, despite the decline observed in Brazil's result (-1.2%) – seasonally-adjusted series. Among the places that recorded negative rates, the most important impact came from São Paulo (-2.1%), followed by Mato Grosso (-5.2%), Pernambuco (-3.9%) and Mato Grosso do Sul (-6.0%). On the other hand, Federal District (10.3%) and Rio de Janeiro (1.8%) exerted the main positive contributions of the month, followed by Santa Catarina (2.7%), Paraná (0.3%), Rio Grande do Norte (2.1%) and Alagoas (2.5%).

“The main negative influence came from São Paulo, with a drop of 2.1%, driven mainly by the drop observed in legal activities and auxiliary financial services,” highlighted Almeida Junior.

In the comparison with the same month of the previous year, the expansion in volume of services in Brazil (3.0%) was followed by 14 out of 27 Federation Units. The most important positive contribution came from São Paulo (4.0%), followed by Rio de Janeiro (5.2), Federal District (16.2%), Rio Grande do Sul (3.5%) and Santa Catarina (3.4%). In the opposite direction, Bahia (-2.9%) led the month's losses, followed by Ceará (-3.3%), Amazonas (-3.9%), Mato Grosso (-2.1%) and Goiás (-2.0%).

Tourism activities decline 4.0% in March

The tourism activities index showed a decline of 4.0% in March 2026 compared to the immediately previous month, the second negative result in a row, a period in which it accumulated a loss of 5.4%. As a result, the segment of tourism was 6.5% above the level of February 2020 and operated, in March 2026, 6.3% below the peak of its time series, reached in December 2024.

“In the special aggregate of tourism activities, a 4.0% marginal drop was observed in the index. This retraction was influenced by the declines observed in hotel services, reservation services related to accommodation, air transportation and car rental,” commented Almeida Junior.

Of the 17 places surveyed, 14 followed the downward movement seen in national tourism activity (-4.0%). The most relevant negative influence came from São Paulo (-6.3%), followed by Rio de Janeiro (-2.4%), Bahia (-5.3%), Pernambuco (-9.2%) and Minas Gerais (-2.8%). In the opposite direction, Rio Grande do Sul (1.4%) led tourism gains this month, followed by Rio Grande do Norte (1.3%) and Goiás (0.4%).

Passenger and cargo transportation fall

The volume of passenger transportation fell 3.4% in March 2026 compared to the immediately previous month, the second negative rate in a row, a period in which it accumulated a loss of 4.3%. The segment is, in this reference month, 1.7% above the level of February 2020, pre-pandemic, and 22.1% below February 2014, the highest point in the time series. In turn, volume of cargo transportation decreased by 1.0% in March 2026, after having grown by 0.8% in the previous month. Therefore, the segment is 5.1% below the highest point in its time series (July 2023). In relation to the pre-pandemic level, cargo transportation is 37.1% above February 2020.

Find out more about the Monthly Survey of Services – PMS: 

What is the PMS? 
Time Series 
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