The structural survey of service activities has been conducted in conjunction with the annual survey of wholesale and retail trade and the annual survey of accommodation and food service activities since reference year 2021. The basis for the new structural statistics in the trade and service sectors is the EU Regulation on European business statistics, which was transposed into national law via the Trade and Services Statistics Act of 22 February 2021 (Federal Law Gazette I, page 266).
As a result of this new survey approach, data are collected and presented consistently for all sectors of activity in the service industry for the first time. Structural statistics in the trade and service sector have covered the following areas since reference year 2021:
| 1: Classification of Economic Activities, 2008 edition (WZ 2008). | |
| G- | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles |
| H- | Transportation and storage |
| I- | Accommodation and food service activities |
| J- | Information and communication |
| K- | Financial and insurance activities |
| L- | Real estate activities |
| M- | Professional, scientific and technical activities |
| N- | Administrative and support service activities |
| P- | Education |
| Q- | Human health and social work activities |
| R- | Arts, entertainment and recreation |
| S95- | Repair of computers and personal and household goods |
| S96- | Other personal service activities |
As before, the survey is conducted via IDEV or eSTATISTIK.core.
The statistical authorities began contacting the units required to provide information in October 2022. Section K (financial and insurance activities) is an exception in this regard, as these results will largely be based on administrative data, as was previously the case. Federal results will be presented according to the EU enterprise definition.
Results for enterprises based on the EU definition are available in tables 48112 in the GENESIS-Online database.
In structural business statistics, results for enterprises have been presented according to the EU enterprise definition - as specified by the EU Regulation on statistical units - since reference year 2018, the first year the new definition was applied.
The EU Regulation on statistical units defines the enterprise as "the smallest combination of legal units that is an organisational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making". Consequently, an enterprise may also consist of several legal units, that is, the smallest legally independent units which keep accounts for reasons of commercial or tax law.
Up to reference year 2017 inclusive, a legal unit was treated as equivalent to an enterprise in German official statistics and the two terms were used synonymously. The use of the EU enterprise definition will ensure a clear distinction between these two terms in the future, and the "enterprise" according to the EU definition will serve as the central unit of presentation in structural business statistics. Data on legal units will continue to be published for a transitional period. Furthermore, the range of data on enterprises based on the EU definition will be expanded.
The presentation of results for enterprises according to the definition under EU law has advantages for economic analysis. For example, if data are analysed at the level of the legal unit and the persons employed in one legal unit in industry are transferred to another independent legal unit, statistics for the original legal unit would provide data on production without persons employed. Results for enterprises according to the EU definition are better suited to provide a realistic picture of economic aggregates such as labour productivity or intermediate consumption ratios. This is also a more appropriate basis for business concentration analyses.
More detailed methodological information: