Informatics professional services price indexes, 2018
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Released: 2019-11-01
In 2018, three of the four informatics professional services price indexes (IPSPI) have increased compared with 2017. The price index for software and software licensing posted an increase of 1.3% in 2018. This was the largest gain observed in the four IPSPI series and followed a similar increase of 1.4% in 2017.
Prices for data processing, hosting, and related services were up 1.2% in 2018, and they have grown by 3.8% since 2015. In 2018, respondents providing these services indicated that increased market demand had an impact on the values they reported. Alongside the increasing digitalization of the economy, which has transformed the ways Canadians buy and sell goods and services, businesses have adapted to increased data and software needs. The upward price trends observed coincide with the growth in demand for cloud computing which, according to the 2019 IBISWorld Data Processing & Hosting Services in Canada report, is one of the quickest-growing products that the industry has to offer. According to the same report, the popularization of cloud computing has allowed for outsourcing to companies which are specialized, which in turn has increased demand for services offered by the industry.
Prices for custom software design and development services rose by 1.1% in 2018. Respondents providing these services indicated that increased market demand and labour costs had an impact on the values they reported.
In contrast to the other three IPSPI series, prices for computer systems design and related services decreased by 1.5% in 2018. The decline followed an increase of 3.8% in 2017. Respondents providing these services in this sector cited changes in the exchange rate as having an impact on the values they reported for 2018.
Note to readers
The informatics professional services price indexes measure annual price changes for various informatics services, such as data processing and hosting; software and software licensing; computer system design services; and custom software design services.
With each release, data for the previous year may have been revised. Data are available at the Canada level only. The indexes are not seasonally adjusted.
Products
Statistics Canada has launched the Producer Price Indexes Portal as a part of a suite of portals for the prices and price indexes. This webpage provides Canadians with a single point of access to a wide variety of statistics and measures related to producer prices. The portal offers an array of information on topics such as manufacturing, construction, professional services, distributive trades and financial services. The portal will be continually updated as new information becomes available.
The video "Producer Price Indexes" is available on the Statistics Canada Training Institute webpage. It provides an introduction to Statistics Canada's Producer Price Indexes-what they are, how they are made and what they are used for.
A Historical Timeline of Canadian Producer Price Statistics
The publication "A Historical Timeline of Canadian Producer Price Statistics," which is part of the Prices Analytical Series (62F0014M), was created to showcase the key milestones in the history of Canadian producer price statistics. This historical timeline contains answers to questions such as: "Who collected Canada's first statistics?" and "What do Canadian producer price indexes measure?"
Infographic: Producer Price Indexes at a Glance
The infographic "Producer Price Indexes at a Glance," which is part of the series Statistics Canada — Infographics (11-627-M), demonstrates how producer price indexes for goods and services are calculated and why they are important for the Canadian economy.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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