New data released by the Statistical Center of Iran show producer price inflation in the services sector has reached record highs.
The overall Producer Price Index for the services sector (using 2011 as the base year) stood at 500.9 in the second quarter of the current fiscal year (June 21-Sept. 21), indicating a 13.8% increase compared with the preceding quarter–the highest quarter-on-quarter rise since summer 2011, the earliest available data on services producers' inflation on the Statistical Center of Iran website.
The index saw a 34.2% increase compared with last year’s same quarter, which is the highest year-on-year inflation since spring 2012.
The average PPI for the services sector in the four-quarter period ending Sept. 21 increased by 28.7% compared with the same period of last year. The sector’s average PPI for the four-quarter period to June 20, end of Q1 of the current Iranian year, had increased by 27.6% year-on-year.
Services PPI is calculated based on the indexes of eight subsectors, namely “repairing motor vehicles, motorcycles and home devices” with a coefficient of 2.5%, “hotels and restaurants” with a coefficient of 4.8%, “transportation, warehouse services and communications” with acoefficient of 29.6%, “financial brokerage (insurance)” with a coefficient of 1.9%, “real estate, renting and business” with a coefficient of 39%, “education” with a coefficient of 12.3%, “health services and social work” with a coefficient of 5.8% and “other public, social and personal services” with a coefficient of 4.1%.
PPI for “repairing motor vehicles, motorcycles and home devices” stood at 674, indicating a 15.3% rise compared with the previous quarter and a 44.4% growth compared with the same quarter of last year. The average PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period ending Sept. 21 increased by 36.7%.
The index for “hotels and restaurants” stood at 808.3, posting a 14.4% rise quarter-on-quarter and a 37.8% rise year-on-year. The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period increased by 37.9%.
For “transportation, warehousing services and communications”, PPI stood at 693.7, registering an 18.7% increase QOQ and a 44.8% increase YOY. The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period increased by 37.7%.
For “financial brokerage (insurance)”, it was at 476, indicating an 8.9% rise compared with the previous quarter and a 28.7% increase compared with the same quarter of last year. The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period increased by 24.1%.
The PPI for “real estate, renting and business” stood at 310.1, registering a 9.3% rise QOQ and a 20.2% increase YOY. The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period increased by 16.5%.
For “education”, the index was at 399.2, posting a 5.7% rise compared with the previous quarter and a 26.9% increase compared with the same quarter of the year before. The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period increased by 22.3%.
“Health services and social work” had a PPI of 701.6, indicating a 15.5% rise over the preceding quarter and a 36.9% increase over the same quarter of last year. The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period increased by 29.7%. And, the PPI measured for the subsector of “other public, social and personal services” stood at 495.2, showing a 10.4% growth compared with the previous quarter and a 30.6% increase over the same quarter of the year before.
The average annual PPI for the subsector in the four-quarter period increased by 27.1%.
48% Share of Total Employment
The services sector employed 48.1% of the Iranian employed population (11.32 million) in Q2, 1% less than the corresponding period of last year.
According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the industrial and agricultural sectors provided 33.4% and 18.5% of jobs during the period respectively.
Over 7.86 million were employed in the industrial sector in the summer, indicating an increase of 1.4% compared with the year before and 4.34 million worked in agriculture, posting a 0.5% year-on-year decline.
The services sector consists of wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communications; financing, insurance, real estate and business services; as well as community, social, education, health and personal services.
The services sector employed 9.31 million men and 2 million women in Q2; over 6.97 million men and 891,528 women were working in the industrial sector and 3.57 million men and 769,617 women worked in the agriculture sector.
The services sector accounted for 57.5% or 9.99 million of all jobs in urban areas and 21.7% or 1.33 million of jobs in rural areas. The industrial sector made up 35.4% or 6.14 million of the jobs in urban areas and comprised 27.9% or 1.71 million of employment in rural areas.
This is while 7.1% or 1.24 million of the total jobs in urban areas and 50.4% or 3.1 million of the jobs in rural areas were in the agriculture sector.
