Industries - Definition

Industries (also: Industry Classes) refer to a collection of sectors that perform similar activities or provide identical services.

The current classification of industries dates back to 2008 (WZ 2008) and takes into account the requirements for systematization by the European Community (NACE REV 2). The structure is divided into five levels:

Economic Section

Divisions

Groups

Classes

Subclasses

What Industries Exist?

In total, there are 21 industries, including, for example, agriculture, forestry and fishing, mining/energy and water supply, manufacturing, construction, trade, transport and communications, as well as banking and insurance.

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NACE CODE – Where Can I Find It?

The NACE (Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community) CODE defines and classifies economic classes. Information about which NACE code is appropriate for each company can be found on the website of the German Federal Statistical Office.

The Importance of Industries

By classifying companies into industries, relevant statistics can be developed. This allows us to see how certain sectors are developing economically. This, in turn, enables us to derive support measures and pursue investments. The construction sector is a very dominant industry: Around 885,000 employees (Statista, 2020) work in the construction industry, and the construction sector generates almost six percent of total value added in Germany.