Monthly Survey of Services
Services sector up 0.6% in September, the eighth consecutive positive result
November 12, 2025 09h00 AM | Last Updated: November 25, 2025 04h58 PM
The services sector grew 0.6% in September from August, the eighth consecutive positive result, with a cumulative increase of 3.3% in the period. As a result, volume of services is 19.5% above the pre-pandemic level (February 2020) and regained, in September 2025, the record level in this time series. The sequence of eight positive results is, in terms of number of months, the same as that of February-September 2022, when the sector of services had a cumulative increase of 5.6%.
Data come from the monthly Survey of Services (PMS), released today (12), by the IBGE. From September 2024, volume of services grew 4.1%, in a total of 18 positive rates in a row. The cumulative index in the year was 2.8%. In 12 months, there was an increase of 3.1%, which kept the pace of cumulative increase observed up to August (3.1%).
Three of the five activities surveyed recorded an increase from August to September, mainly transportation (1.2%), which recorded the second consecutive positive figure, with a cumulative increase of 1.5%, driven mostly by freight road transportation. In his analysis of the cumulative positive result over the last eight months, in the seasonallu adjusted series, the manager of the survey, Rodrigo Lobo, mentions the transportation sector as responsible for this recent growth.
“What stands out is the renewal of the time series peak in September 2025. This renewal has been observed since last April. The secotr of transportation has been responsible for this sequence of positive rates," Rodrigo explains.
Considering the main movements in the transportation sector in 2025, Rodrigo shows examples of elements that can justify advances in the segments of airway transportation and freight logistics.
“Within the transportation sector, the growth of air passenger transportation and transportation logistics throughout 2025 also stands out. The former is due to a greater number of people traveling, both because of income increases and because we have a lower average airfare price than last year. The latter (transportation logistics) is growing due to the increased sale of goods purchased on e-commerce platforms, which ultimately drives the storage of goods, logistics, and transportation to the final consumer,” the manager explains.
Other advances came from information and communication (1.2%), recovering from the 0.5% loss observed in August, driven by consulting and information technology. Other services (0.6%) also contributed positively, marking the third consecutive advance, with a cumulative gain of 2.5%, driven by insurance, supplementary pension plans, and health insurance.
Professional, administrative, and complementary services contracted by 0.6%, driven by lower revenue from rent of machinery and equipment and legal activities. Services provided to families registered a decrease of 0.5%, due to lower revenue from the restaurant sector.
Tourism activities change by 0.1%
Com isso, o segmento de turismo está 11,5% acima do patamar de fevereiro de 2020 e 2,0% abaixo do ápice da série histórica (dezembro de 2024). The tourism activity index changed by 0.1% in September from the previous month, marking the second consecutive positive result, with a cumulative gain of 1.1% during this period. With this, the tourism sector is 11.5% above the level of February 2020 and 2.0% below the peak of the time series (December 2024).
By Area, 10 of the 17 locations followed the positive change in national tourism activity (0.1%). The most significant contribution came from Rio Grande do Sul (2.7%), followed by Paraná (2.0%), São Paulo (0.2%), and Pará (4.9%). Conversely, Rio de Janeiro (-0.6%) led the tourism losses this month, followed by Goiás (-3.8%) and Ceará (-3.2%).
Passenger transportation increases by 0.4% and freight transport, by 0.7%
The volume of passenger transportation registered a positive change of 0.4% from August to September, the second consecutive positive result, with a cumulative increase of 0.8% during this period. Thus, the segment is 10.3% above the level of February 2020 (pre-pandemic) and 15.2% below February 2014 (the highest point in the time series).
In the same comparison, the volume of freight transportation advanced 0.7% in September 2025, the fifth consecutive positive result, a cumulative increase of 3.1% in this period. Thus, the segment is 3.3% below the highest point in its series (July 2023). Compared to pre-pandemic levels, freight transportation is 39.7% above that of February 2020.
According to Rodrigo Lobo, road freight transportation is the main driver behind the continued growth of the service sector.
“The recovery of road freight transportation has been crucial in sustaining the service sector at high levels. There is a direct correlation between the increase in revenue of freight transportation companies (especially road transport) and the increased flow of the agricultural harvest,” explains the manager.
More about the survey
The Monthly Survey of Services 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 employing 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. The results are available on Sidra. The next release of the Monthly Survey of Services, related to October, will be on December 12.
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