Markit

What Markit does

Markit is a London-headquartered financial information services company, founded in 2003, that operates today as Markit Economics within S&P Global following the 2022 IHS Markit merger. Its core product is the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) — a proprietary, survey-based economic indicator built on monthly panels of purchasing executives in manufacturing and services. Markit Economics compiles and publishes PMI surveys across developed and emerging economies, with named offerings including the U.S. Services PMI (covering new orders, business activity, employment, and supplier deliveries) and the Emerging Markets Manufacturing PMI Input Prices Index. Readings above 50 signal sector expansion; below 50, contraction. The unit's customer base is concentrated among financial markets participants — traders, investors, and financial institutions — who use PMI releases for economic analysis, market positioning, and monetary-policy expectations.

Underlying the franchise is a survey collection and aggregation platform anchored in the PMI methodology, paired with a multi-decade time series of standardized, cross-country responses. Distribution is achieved primarily through financial news outlets, economic data platforms, and direct institutional subscriptions, giving the brand global reach with relatively low marginal publishing cost per release.

The business model is B2B data subscription; pricing is not publicly disclosed. Markit was previously an independent diversified financial information services company, which is the source of its legacy firmographic footprint of 501-1,000 employees; today it functions as a sub-brand inside S&P Global, with PMI products integrated into S&P Global Market Intelligence alongside Ratings, Energy (Commodity Insights), and Dow Jones Indices. Standalone revenue, margin, and headcount detail for Markit Economics are not reported separately by the parent.

Name

Markit

Website

https://markit.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Markit Economics, a London-based financial information provider founded in 2003 and now part of S&P Global, compiles and publishes proprietary Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey data on manufacturing and services activity for institutional financial market participants worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Core offering

Markit, operating through Markit Economics, compiles and publishes Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data for multiple economies. The PMI is a monthly survey-based economic indicator that tracks sector business conditions including new orders, business activity, employment, and supplier deliveries. The output serves traders, investors, and financial institutions that use the data for economic analysis, market sentiment assessment, and investment decision-making.

Product overview

Markit, now part of S&P Global following the 2022 merger, provides economic research services through Markit Economics, including the compilation and release of Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data for various economies. The provided sources do not contain detailed information about Markit's full product portfolio, technology offerings, or service modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• U.S. Services PMI Monthly survey-based economic indicator that measures U.S. services sector business conditions by tracking new orders, business activity, employment, and supplier deliveries, used by financial market participants for economic and market analysis.
• U.S. Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) Economic indicator providing insight into broader U.S. economic health and consumer demand within the services sector, signaling sector expansion or contraction for traders, investors, and financial institutions.
• Emerging Markets Manufacturing PMI Input Prices Index Index tracking input price inflation across emerging market economies, providing visibility into manufacturing cost pressures in developing economies for institutional financial market participants.
• Markit Economics PMI Surveys Compilation and release of monthly Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) surveys across multiple economies, providing leading indicators of economic expansion and contraction to financial markets participants for analysis, positioning, and policy expectations.

Quantifiable outcome

• PMI readings above 50 indicate sector expansion; readings below 50 indicate contraction

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• The Conference Board: Publishes the Consumer Confidence Index and Leading Economic Indicators for the U.S., directly competing with Markit's economic survey products for institutional subscription dollars and macroeconomic signal adoption.
• Institute for Supply Management (ISM): Publishes the U.S. Manufacturing and Services PMIs — the most direct competing survey-based business condition indicators to Markit's U.S. Services PMI. Both compete for institutional credibility and downstream adoption in U.S. economic intelligence.

Broad incumbents

• Moody's Analytics: Provides economic forecasting, scenario analysis, and proprietary economic indicators to financial institutions, overlapping with Markit's macroeconomic intelligence offering as part of a broader data and analytics portfolio.
• LSEG (Refinitiv): Following its acquisition of Refinitiv, LSEG distributes a broad suite of economic data and analytics for financial professionals, overlapping with Markit in macro data delivery to institutional subscribers.
• OECD: Publishes Composite Leading Indicators (CLIs) covering OECD member economies, offering an institutional-grade alternative-leading indicator suite that overlaps with the macroeconomic intelligence value Markit provides.
• Bloomberg L.P. Aggregates and distributes global economic indicators including PMI on its terminal, serving the same financial-market audience as Markit and offering proprietary sentiment indices that overlap with PMI use cases.

Regional players

• ifo Institute: Publishes the ifo Business Climate Index, Germany's widely cited business sentiment indicator. While geographically focused, ifo competes with Markit-style PMIs in European economic intelligence.
• Caixin: Publishes the Caixin China Manufacturing and Services PMIs in partnership with S&P Global, serving as Markit's regional execution vehicle in China and a comparable economic survey provider for institutional subscribers.
• ZEW Centre for European Economic Research: Publishes the ZEW Indicator of Economic Sentiment for Germany and the Eurozone — directly comparable to Markit's PMI surveys in providing forward-looking macroeconomic signals to European financial-market participants.

Emerging players

• Trading Economics: An alternative-data platform aggregating global economic indicators for traders, competing with Markit on price and accessibility in the macroeconomic intelligence segment for smaller institutional and retail-facing subscriptions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/markit

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Markit