Russia Services PMI climbs to 51.3 in Aug from 49 in July - S&P Global

MOSCOW. Sept 3 (Interfax) - The Russia Services PMI rose to 51.3 points in August from 49 points a month earlier, S&P Global research data show.

Output in the sector increased as new orders resumed growth and customer demand strengthened.

The Russia Composite Output Index, which tracks activity in both the services and manufacturing sectors, climbed to 50.6 points in August from 49.6 in July.

Index readings above 50.0 points indicate growth in business activity, while those of less than 50.0 show a decline.

The report says that new orders began to grow again in August after decreasing for four months consecutively, at the fastest rate since February, due to the growth in demand.

Cost pressure lessened somewhat. Costs rose due to increased fuel prices and transportation costs, while cost inflation was at the lowest rate of 2026 so far. Output charges grew at a faster rate, with survey respondents saying that they had been attempting to maintain margins by raising prices for customers. Though the rate of output charge inflation was slower than the all-time average, it accelerated to the fastest since March.

Companies in the service sector continued to cut staff numbers for the seventh consecutive month, though at the slowest rate of the last three months. Companies said that they had sufficient resources to process incoming orders.

The number of uncompleted orders also continued to decrease in August due to a moderate inflow of new orders. This was the slowest decline of the past five months.

Business optimism grew in August due to the resumption of growth in new orders. Positive sentiments were also reinforced by planned investments in marketing to broaden the customer base. Business confidence was the highest since March, though it was still fairly moderate compared with historical levels.