Bulgaria reported a 8.1% increase in services production in May, the highest level in the European Union, according to new data from Eurostat.
Other countries to report a high annual increase in services production included Latvia (+7.9%) and Poland (+7.3%), while Denmark reported the sharpest decline, at 14.0%, followed by Hungary (-3.6%) and Romania (-1.4%).
On a month-on-month basis, i.e. compared to April, Greece recorded the strongest monthly increase in services production, up 4.5%, followed by Latvia (+3.8%) and Poland (+3.0%). Hungary (-3.6%), Portugal (-2.8%) and Denmark (-1.3%) experienced the largest declines.
Services production
Services production across the euro area and European Union continued to strengthen in May 2026, with output rising 0.8% month-on-month in both. On an annual basis, services production was up 2.4% in both the euro area and EU.
Within the euro area, the strongest monthly growth was recorded in real estate activities, which rose 2.1%, followed by professional, scientific and technical activities (+1.0%), administrative and support services (+0.6%), information and communication (+0.5%), and transportation and storage (+0.2%). Accommodation and food services was the only major sector to contract, declining 1.0% from April.
Across the EU, meanwhile, real estate activities increased 1.6%, professional, scientific and technical services rose 0.9%, information and communication advanced 0.6%, administrative and support services grew 0.5%, and transportation and storage edged up 0.2%. Accommodation and food services again posted a 1.0% decline.
Annual performance
On an annual basis, transportation and storage remained one of the strongest-performing sectors, with output increasing 4.4% in the euro area and 3.1% across the EU. Information and communication also recorded robust growth, rising 4.6% and 4.7%, respectively. Professional, scientific and technical activities increased 2.5% in the euro area and 2.8% in the EU, while real estate activities grew 1.9% and 1.0%.
However, accommodation and food services remained under pressure, with production declining 1.8% year-on-year in both the euro area and the EU. Read more here.
