Business Survey Focus: Is There a Boom in the Services Sector Overall?

At the end of last year the business climate indicator in the services sector climbed to its highest level since the launch of the survey in 2005. This was primarily due to responses from participants in real estate and rental services. This year the business climate indicator is no longer quite at last year’s record level, but still remains way above its long-term average. The very good results in the services sector, in turn, are largely due to developments in real estate and rental services, which were fuelled by unabated demand for property. This development cannot necessarily be applied to other economic segments. Branches closely-related to real estate tend to benefit, as does the construction sector; while sectors that do not bear any relation real estate tend not to. If the results of the business survey of the services sector are calculated without taking WZ68 (according to the German Classification of Economic Activities) into account, the picture is less positive. Although the services sector is enjoying a favourable economic environment and stands to benefit from the economic upturn, the situation is not quite as positive for a large share of service providers as the aggregate results for the sector as a whole would suggest.