In 2018, the services sector had 1.3 million enterprises, which produced a net operating revenue of R$1.6 trillion. The sector employed 12.6 million persons, who receives R$353.4 billion and salaries, withdrawal and other compensation.

Over 2017, the number of employed persons in the Services sector increased 2.1%, whereas the salaries, withdrawals and other compensation, deflated by the INPC, increases 2%. The gross revenue of the sector accounted for R$1.9 trillion and 2.7% of this amount came from the secondary activity, as the resale of goods and the sale of own-manufactured products.

The segments of Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing concentrated the greatest share of net operating revenue (30.0%). Among the activities of the sector of services, the road transportation of cargo ranked first in revenue generation (11.5%).

Between 2009 and 2018, the average employment of services sector fell from 11 to 9 persons by enterprise. The segments of Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing had the greatest share of employment: 14 persons employed by enterprise.

The average monthly salary was reduced in a ten-year time, from 2.5 minimum wages, in 2009, to 2.3 minimum wages in 2018. The enterprises of the sector of Services rendered mainly to families had the lowest salary average (1.5 MW), and the Information and communication services, the highest one (4.7 MW)

Although the greatest part of the net operating revenue was concentrated in the sector of Transportation , support activities for transportation and mailing, that of Professional, administrative and complementary services held the biggest share of employed population (40.2), with a highlight to the activity of Technical-Professional services (9.3%) and Services for buildings and landscape activities (8.8%).

Those are some of the highlights from the Annual Survey of Services (PAS) 2018, which analyses the producing structure of the Non-financial services sector in the country. The publication and the support material of the survey are on the right of this page.

Greatest share of Services revenue came from Transportation

In 2018, the segment of Transportation, support services for transportation and mailing was responsible for the biggest part of the net operating revenue of the services sector, with 30.0% of contribution, followed by Professional, administrative and complementary services (26.4%), Information and communication services (22.1%), Services rendered mainly to families (11.5%), Other services activities (5.8%), Real estate activities (2.5%) and Maintenance and repair services (1.7%).

The segment of transportation, support services for transportation and mailing stood at the second position in 2009, but it surpassed Information and communication services, with an increase of 2.2 percentage points (pp) in its share in 2018. Among the activities that comprise the segment, the highlights are Road transportation of cargo and Warehousing and support activities for transportation, which presented growth in their shares in relation to the total, 1.8 pp and 1.1 pp, respectively.

Together, the segments of Transportation, support services for transportation and mailing, Professional, administrative and complementary services, Information and communication services and Services rendered mainly to families accounted for 90% of the net operating revenue of Services.

Market concentration fell in 2018

The Service sector as a whole recorded a low level of concentration, with a concentration ratio of 8 (R8) of 8.9% in 2018. The index measures the proportion of the net operating revenue which is generated by the eight biggest enterprises in a certain activity. There was reduction of 4.2 pp in the index in relation to 2009, influenced by a 9.1 pp decrease in this indicator for Information and communication services, a segment which remained with a high concentration in 2018 (34.6%).

Among the other sectors, three have a concentration index below 10.0% – Professional, administrative and complementary services (5.7%), Real estate activities (7.9%) and Services rendered mainly to families (8.2%) - and three between 10.0% and 20.0% - Maintenance and repair services (10.9%), Transportation, support services for transport and mailing (14.9%) and Other services activities (18.9%).

The sectors of Pipeline transportation (100.0%), of Air transportation (95.3%), of Mailing and other delivery activities (81.9%) and of Railway and subway transportation (81.1%) recorded the highest concentration indicators in 2018.

The sector of Air transpotation recorded the second biggest increase in the R8 among all the 34 activities surveyed, with growth of 8.7 pp between 2009 and 2018. The activity of Travel agencies, tour operators and other tourism services, classified out of transportation and mailing, was, though, the one whose concentration index was the highest ever, from 17.7% in 2009 to 29.4% in 2018. In general, 21 of the 34 activities and 5 of the 7 major segments of the services sector had reduction in the concentration level.

Professional, adminstrative and complementary services held 40.2% of employment

The Non-financial services enterprises employed a total of 12.6 million persons in 2018 and the segment of Professional, administrative and complementary services employed 40.2% of the total. Then came Services rendered mainly to families (22.8%), Transportation, support services to transportation and mailing (19.6%), Information and communication services (8.1%), Other services activities (3, 9%), Maintenance and repair services (3.3%) and Real estate activities (2.1%).

Between 2009 and 2018 all the major segments of the survey presented increase in the absolute number of employed persons, recording a total insertion of 3.0 million persons, which represents 31.9% of growth in the period.

The segment of Professional, administrative and complementary services lost 0.5 pp in the participation of employed persons between 2009 and 2018, from 40.7% to 40.2%, although it continues to lead in this regard. This small retraction was due to the activities of Recruiting, hiring and allocation of workforce and Services of investigation, surveillance, security and transportation of values, responsible for the biggest retractions in the period.

The highest growth in ten years was in Services rendered mainly to families, with an increase of 1.9 pp in the total participation and rising to the second position in the rank, above Transportation, support services for transportation and mailing, which presented the biggest contribution loss in the period with a retraction of 1.8 pp between 2009 and 2018.

Average employment down to 9 per enterprise

Between 2009 and 2018, the average number of employed persons presented reduction, from 11 to 9 persons. Among the segments, Other service activities, Real estate activities, Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing and Professional, administrative and complementary services recorded reduction in the average number of employed persons in the enterprises, whereas the others held steady in the period.

The average compensation of workers in the enterprises of non-financial services, calculated in minimum wages (MW) retreated from 2.5 MW to 2.3 MW, between 2009 and 2018. The enterprises of the sector of Services rendered mainly to families had the lowest salary average (1.5 MW), and Information and communication services, the highest one (4.7 MW)

In ten years, the average compensation of the seven segments either decreased or kept stable, with a highlight to Real estate activities (-1.0 MW) and Information and communication services (0.9 MW). The latter was leveraged by the 2,7 MW decrease in the activity of Telecommunications.

Southeast accounts for 63.3% of the gross revenue in the services sector

Among the Major Regions, the Southeast held the greatest share of the gross revenue of services in 2018, accounting for 63.3% of the total. The regional rank goes on with the South (15.7%), Northeast (10.3%), Central-West (8.0%) and North (2.7%). The major structural change seen in ten years was the reduction in the regional concentration, although the rank positions remained unchanged, with reduction of 3.3 pp of the contribution of the Southeast, to the benefit, mainly, of the South, which grew 2.6 pp between 2009 and 2018.

Among the segments, Transportation, support activities for transportation and mailing was the prevailing sector in all five regions, with a 27.2% share in the gross revenue of services of the southeast Region, 28.4% of the Northeast, 36.4% of the South, 35.9% of the Central-west and 39.1 of the North. That very same segment is a highlight in the ten-year period of the survey, with the expansion in the Central-West (8.9 pp), North (7.2 pp) and Southeast (2.1 pp).

In the Northeast and in the South, however, the sharpest changes were in the segment of Services rendered mainly to families, with highs of 5.2 pp and 3.2 pp, respectively. On the other hand, the sector with the biggest decline in the share was the same in all regions: Information and communication services. In the last 10 years, there was reduction of 16.6 pp in the North region, 13.2 pp in the Northeast, 6.6 pp in the Southeast, 3.8 pp in the South and 12.8 pp in the Central-West. That is a reflex of the significant retraction of this activity which used to lead the ranking in all regions in 2009, except for the South.

In relation to employment, the Southeast Region kept on top of the regional contribution, with 57.1% of the total employed persons. Of note, however, is the fact that there was a 3.3 pp reduction in the contribution of employed persons of this region in the last 10 years, counterbalance by the 1.4 pp expansion in the South and the 1.1 pp growth in the Northeast Region. Both of them are now concentration, respectively, 17.0% and 15.0% of the workforce in 2018.

As to salaries, withdrawals and other compensation, the decrease in the Southeast share was even bigger, with a 3.7 pp loss along the ten years. This result occurred as opposed to tans advance of 1.9 pp in the South, 1.2 pp in the Northeast and 0.7 pp in the Central-West. Regarding the distribution of the number of active enterprises by operating areas, there was reduction in the contribution in the Southeast (3.6 pp), as opposed to an advance in the Northeast (1.6 pp), in the Central-West (1.5 pp), South (0.3 pp and North (0.2 pp).

The average monthly salary was reduced in all Major Regions in the period of ten years, from 2.5 minimum wages, in 2009, to 2.3 minimum wages in 2018. Southeast was the only region to record salary above the national average (2.5 MW). Conversely, the Northeast region was the one with the lowest average salary paid in the country in 2018 (1.7 MW).

São Paulo held 66.3% of the Services revenue in the Southeast

In 2018, the state of São Paulo concentrated 66.3% of the services revenue in the Southeast region. Rio de Janeiro (19.4%), Minas Gerais (11.8%) and Espírito Santo (2.5%) are the other shares of the Southeast. Over 2009, the state of São Paulo was the one that most advanced (2.1 pp), whereas Rio de Janeiro was the one with the biggest retraction (2.0 pp).

In the South Region, Paraná now prevails in the generation of gross revenue of services, with participation of 38.6%, which represents a rise of 2.1 pp in the period. On the other hand, Rio Grande Sul lost the main position in the state in the region and declined 4.6 pp, accounting for 35.4% of the total. Santa Catarina, in turn, accounted for 26.0% of the revenue of services in the region in 2018, with increase of 2.5 pp in the period.

In the Northeast, the concentration of the gross revenue prevailed in the states of Ceará, Pernambuco and Bahia. Together, they account for 70.3% of the total in the Region. The state of Ceará increased the most its contribution in the period of ten years, with increase of 2.1 pp, whereas Bahia reduced its contribution by 2.9 pp.

In the Central-West, the producing structure was quite homogeneous, with a highlight to the Federal District. Despite its reduction of 6.3 pp in ten years, it was still able to keep the concentration of 36.3% of the gross revenue of services in the region in 2018. The reduction of the contribution in the Federal District occurred as opposed to the increase of representativeness of the other states, mainly Mato Grosso do Sul, whose contribution increases 3.6 pp in the period. The states of Mato Grosso and Goiás, in turn, increases their contribution by 1.9 and 0.8 pp, respectively.

The North Region concentrates its gross revenue in two states: Amazonas (36.4%) and Pará (36.3%). Even with its great relevance, Pará recorded the greatest loss in the total share of the Region in ten years, with reduction of 7.8 pp. In contrast, Tocantins gained the biggest contribution in the period, with increment of 3.9 pp. The other states had smaller changes than 2.0 pp in relation to 2009.