Wiesbaden – September 08, 2026 -- Germany's services sector, excluding financial and insurance activities, posted a 1.7% real revenue decline in June 2026 compared with May, according to preliminary calendar- and seasonally-adjusted data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Nominal revenue fell 1.4% month-on-month, while pricing effects widened the gap between real and nominal annual comparisons.
Professional and technical services lead the monthly slide
Freelance, scientific and technical services recorded the steepest sequential drop at 2.3%, signaling reduced demand for consulting, engineering and R&D-adjacent work. Real estate and housing services followed with a 1.8% decline, while transport and storage, along with other economic services such as equipment rental and staffing placement, each fell 1.6%. Information and communication services slipped 1.3% versus May.
Annual figures diverge sharply between real and nominal terms
Compared with June 2025, real revenue in the sector contracted 0.4%, but nominal revenue rose 2.7%, underscoring the extent to which price inflation is masking underlying volume weakness. The divergence points to margin pressure for service providers who are raising prices to offset stagnant or declining transaction volumes.
Destatis flags data revision risk tied to quarterly price updates
The producer price indices used to deflate nominal revenue figures are published quarterly and estimated provisionally at the current edge, meaning June's real-terms figures could see larger-than-usual revisions in subsequent reports. Destatis also updates preliminary results monthly to account for late survey responses from reporting units.