UK SPPI: publishing services
UK SPPI: publishing services stood at 155.7 in Q2 2026, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS). It is one of the indicators in the Services producer prices table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q4 2008 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Services producer prices table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Services price index by industry | |||||||||||
| J58 Publishing services | 155.7 | 155.7 | 154.5 | 151 | 151 | 150.2 | 147.4 | 146.7 | 144.4 | 142.8 | |
| J61 Telecommunications services | 95.8 | 95.8 | 95.8 | 93.5 | 94 | 91.6 | 94.2 | 92.2 | 90.4 | 88.1 |
Understanding UK SPPI: publishing services
Commercial publishing contracts, business software releases, and technical information distribution across the United Kingdom are measured in this sub-index. The coverage spans business-to-business subscriptions for technical journals, financial data feeds, corporate database access, and commercial software publishing billed to organisations. It leaves out consumer book purchases and retail newsstand sales, isolating professional information tools and proprietary enterprise software solutions.
Published without seasonal adjustment, the series can exhibit sudden shifts around annual subscription cycles and corporate database renewal windows. Revisions are standard in early reporting cycles as publishing houses and software vendors finalise contract renewal values and volume licence agreements. Year-on-year comparisons provide a clean assessment of professional publishing costs by removing predictable annual renewal milestones. It is inappropriate to compare this series with general literacy or entertainment publishing indicators, as it represents specialised operational information assets.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this index include consumer fiction and recreational magazine publishing?
- No, it focuses strictly on commercial publishing, technical databases, business journals, and software solutions sold to enterprises.
- How are enterprise software licences accounted for in this index?
- Prices reflect corporate licensing fees, maintenance subscriptions, and proprietary software distribution charges billed to businesses.
- What drives the timing of price changes in this sector?
- Many professional database and software subscriptions operate on calendar-year or financial-year contract cycles, leading to periodic repricing.