Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Statistisches Bundesamt)

Environmental economic statistics (G23)

The environmental goods and services sector (EGSS) accounts report on an economic sector that generates goods and services produced for environmental protection or the management of natural resources.

Products for environmental protection prevent, reduce and eliminate pollution or any other degradation of the environment. Examples are electric vehicles, catalysts and filters to decrease pollutant emissions, wastewater and waste treatment services, noise insulation works or restoration of degraded habitats.

Products for resource management safeguard the stock of natural resources against depletion. Examples are renewable energy production, energy-efficient and passive buildings, seawater desalinization or rainwater recovery, and materials recovery.

EGSS accounts provide data on output and export of environmental goods and services and on the value added of and employment in the environmental goods and services sector.

EGSS data are compiled following the statistical concepts and definitions set out in the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012 – Central Framework.

Data are reported cross-classified by 1) the type of environmental protection or resource management activity and 2) economic activity. Environmental protection activities are classified by environmental domain as set out in the Classification of Environmental Protection Activities - CEPA. Resource management activities are classified as set out in the Classification of Resource Management Activities - CReMA. see the revised CEPA and CReMA explanatory notes for detail. Economic activity is classified according to the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community, Rev. 2 (2008).

EGSS comprises a sector of the economy that produces goods and services aimed at environmental protection and resource management (see SEEA CF 2012 chapter 4). Environmental goods and services either reduce environmental pressures or help maintaining the stock of natural resources or they are designed to be cleaner and more resource efficient than conventional products. Environmental goods and services can be produced by corporations, households, governments and non-profit institutions. The list of environmental activities and products has been set out in the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2174 ('the indicative compendium of environmental goods and services').

EGSS has the same system boundaries as the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) and consists of all environmental products within this production boundary. ESA defines production as the activity carried out under the control and responsibility of an institutional unit that uses input of labour, capital, goods and services to produce output of goods and services.

Only goods and services produced for environmental purposes are included in the scope of the environmental goods and services sector.

'Environmental purpose' means that a good or service helps either 1) preventing, reducing and eliminating pollution and any other degradation of the environment or 2) preserving and maintaining the stock of natural resources and hence safeguarding against depletion.

The EGSS statistics aim at compiling data for the following economic variables:

Output: consists of products that become available for use outside of the producer unit, any goods and services produced for own final use and goods that remain in the inventories at the end of the period in which they are produced. Apart from market output, output for own final use and non-market output, EGSS statistics also include ancillary output, comprising output intended for use within an enterprise.

Market output is to be valued at basic prices, that is, the prices receivable by the producer from the purchaser minus taxes and plus subsidies on products.
Output for own final use is to be valued at basic prices of similar products sold on the market or by the total costs of production.
Non-market output is to be estimated by the total costs of production.
Ancillary output is measured as a total of recurrent production costs (such as intermediate consumption, compensation of employees and consumption of fixed capital) incurred by enterprises to: 1) reduce environmental pressures arising from their production process or 2) produce environmental goods or services not intended for use outside the enterprise, but instead supporting other (non-environmental) activities undertaken within the enterprise (e.g. waste management services carried out in-house). For market producers, a mark-up for net operating surplus is added to the value of the EGSS ancillary output.
Gross Value Added: represents the contribution made by the production of environmental goods and services to GDP. It is the difference between the value of the output and intermediate consumption.

Employment: is measured in full-time equivalent jobs engaged in the production of output of environmental goods and services. Full-time equivalent is defined as total hours worked divided by the average annual working hours in a full-time job.

Exports: consist of sales, barter, gifts, or grants, of environmental goods and services from residents to non-residents.

Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community describes the different statistical units of the production system.

The recommended statistical unit for the collection and compilation of EGSS statistics (excluding general government) is the establishment. For general government, the recommendation is to use institutional units and groupings of units as defined in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010).

The statistical population is the national economy as defined in SEEA CF 2012 and the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). It includes all economic activities undertaken by resident units.

Germany

In accordance with Regulation (EC) 691/2011, the reporting of EGSS has been mandatory for the reference years from 2014 onwards. 

A time series from 2012 to 2020 is available for Germany.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Output, gross value added, and exports are measured in million units of national currency. Employment is measured in full time equivalents (i.e., full time equivalent jobs).

The reference period for EGSS data is the calendar year.

EGSS accounts are compiled and reported in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts (EEEA).

The EEEA follow internationally agreed concepts and definitions set out in the SEEA Central Framework (2012), the international statistical standard adopted by the UN Statistical Commission. They present data in a way that is compatible with National Accounts (ESA, 2010).

Not applicable.

According to Section 16 (1) of the Federal Statistics Act (Bundesstatistikgesetz - BStatG), Destatis is obliged to keep individual data confidential.

Rules of confidentiality regard information based on less than 3 entities (n<3). In addition certain results are kept confidential to avoid disclosure.

Not available.

Not available.

Not available.

Annually

A news release was published on 27.06.2023 for the German EGSS data on turnover and employees.

A statisical report was published on 27.06.2023 for the German EGSS data on turnover, exports and employees.

Data base was published on 27.06.2023 for the German EGSS data on turnover, exports and employees.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

The methodology of the national survey is described in the quality report (only in German).

Not requested for this metadata collection.

The quality management of the national survey of EGSS data is described in the quality report (only available in German).

Quality management is subject to the general, national quality assurance regulations of the Federal Statistical Office

During and after the survey plausibility checks are applied, i.e. previous data is considered, total turnover from economic statistics as a benchmark for EGSS turnover.
Within the framework of plausibility checks, the employees of EGSS are also compared with the total employees.
In addition, all estimates are compared with the data from the previous years.

Best practice methods are applied to improve the EGSS survey methodology and the estimates.

The main users of the statistics are the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Ministry For Economic Affairs and Energy. In addition to the political decision-makers, business associations, the media, science (universities and research institutes) and the interested public are also among the users.

The EGSS accounts cover only environmental domains (CEPA/CReMA). German data users sometimes need more detailed information on individual environmental goods and services (for example: Data related to wind energy or energy-efficient refurbishment of buildings.

For the reporting year 2017 estimation methods were developed and applied to fill data gaps:
• Estimations on employment regarding the production of renewable electricity and heat (CReMA 13a / NACE D) have been adapted to new methodologies.
• Estimation for biofuels (CReMA 13a / NACE 10, 20) are now considered.
• Estimation for water management (CReMA 10) / NACE 22, 23, 24, 25, 42, 43, are now considered.
Further  there are important changes to the previous compilation methods:
• Activities regarding organic farming (NACE A) and the production of renewable energy (NACE D) are reassigned as market activity.
• The activity of NACE 39 will be reported according to the recommendation of Eurostat under CEPA 4.
• Activities of NACE 38.3 were considered as resource management according to Eurostat recommendation and assigned to CReMA 14.
• Activities in connection with forests in protected areas are reported under CEPA 6 as recommended by Eurostat.
For the 2019 reporting year, data in connection with electromobility was collected for the first time.
For the reporting year 2020, data data of the sections 8.1.2 "R&D for the protection of climate and ozone layer (as a subgroup of research and development for environmental protection)" and 15.1.1 "R&D for the production of energy from renewable sources (as a subgroup of R& D for resource management)"

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Best practice methods are applied to improve the EGSS survey methodology. Focus is on the adaptation of new environmental technologies and data sources to delimitate the group of respondents.
Minor data quality regards the estimation added to the survey data. The estimations (NACE A: Organic farming, NACE D: Renewable energy production and NACE E: Waste and waste water management activities) cannot be as precise as survey data can be. The estimation methods based on annually renewed data base. (No fixed shares).

EGSS accounts are compiled using a range of primary statistical sources. The sampling and non-sampling errors are described in the metadata of the underlying statistical data.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

EGSS accounts are compiled using a range of primary statistical sources. The sampling and non-sampling errors are described in the metadata of the underlying statistical data.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

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Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Data for estimations and there final calculation can be available in t+23. Final results for turnover, exports and employment in EGSS at national level (estimations excluded) are available in t+18.

No distinction is made between first and last estimates

Data for estimations and there final calculation can be available in t+23. Final results for turnover, exports and employment in EGSS at national level (estimations excluded) are available in t+18.

The data were delivered to Eurostat on 31. October 2023. The reporting deadline for EGSS to Eurostat is 31 October. 

The data were delivered to Eurostat on 31. October 2023. The reporting deadline for EGSS to Eurostat is 31 October.

All measures and activities that fulfil the main purpose criteria will be considered. Excluded are adapted goods (e.g. sacks and bags for replacing plastic bag, domestic appliances) as they are difficult to be covered.  
Products from the indicative compendium in Regulation (EU) 2015/2174 that are not covered are the following:
• Aquaculture products,
• Fuel wood,
• Lead containers for radioactive waste,
• Charcoal when complying with sustainability measures,
• Reconditioned wooden containers,
• Nuclear waste treatment and disposal services,
• Technical inspection services of road transport vehicles regarding air emissions.

Production of storage technologies for renewable energy and construction of efficient networks for the transport of renewable electricity are important environmental activities and should be included.

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Products from the indicative compendium in Regulation (EU) 2015/2174 that are not covered are the following:
• Aquaculture products,
• Fuel wood,
• Lead containers for radioactive waste,
• Charcoal when complying with sustainability measures,
• Reconditioned wooden containers,
• Nuclear waste treatment and disposal services,
• Technical inspection services of road transport vehicles regarding air emissions.

Breaks in series are due to the dynamic of the issue on environmental activities: New products are considered, others are assessed as state of the art and excluded. In addition, the group of respondents of the EGSS survey is annually extended by newly available information on potentially environmental producers.
In 2015 the national legislation extended the group of respondents to all economic activities except for Agriculture. Thus, the scope extended.
For the 2019 reporting year, data in connection with electromobility in the domain of CEPA 1 "Protection of ambient air and climate" was collected for the first time.
For the reporting year 2020, data of the sections 8.1.2 "R&D for the protection of climate and ozone layer (as a subgroup of research and development for environmental protection)" and 15.1.1 "R&D for the production of energy from renewable sources (as a subgroup of R& D for resource management)"

Starting with the 2020 reporting year, the German statistics have redefined and differentiated the reports on "improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings". They now include the energy refurbishment of existing buildings ( e.g., measures that result in an improvement in the efficiency class of at least KfW efficiency house standard 115) and the construction of new efficiency houses (e.g., construction of efficiency, passive and plus energy houses with KfW efficiency house standard 55, 40, 40 Plus or better). In principle, only the additional costs for measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings are to be reported (for detailes information see point 18.5.4).

2019-2021

At the moment there are no procedures to ensure the coherence of EGSS data with macroeconomic statistics.

Not applicable

At the moment there are no procedures to ensure the coherence of EGSS data with macroeconomic statistics.

Coherence between EGSS and EPEA accounts is not given.

Coherence is given here in general. Output, exports, employment are variables of the EGSS survey. In the EGSS survey, data on turnover is reported, not data on output. GVA is estimated.
Regarding estimation methods, in few cases there is no coherence between output, exports, employment and GVA (e.g.  for activities in connection with forests in protected areas (WZ A / CEPA 6): Output and employment is given but data for GVA is not available).

There is no revision policy foreseen.

There is no revision policy foreseen.

There is no revision policy foreseen.

The main data source for the variables output, exports, and employment is the survey on EGSS for the reporting year 2020. Environmental turnover and exports are reported by environmental domain (CEPA, CReMA 13 and CReMA 15). Environmental employment is reported in sum for the establishment. It is not reported by environmental domain. It is aligned to environmental domains based on the share of turnover (by NACE and environmental domain).  
No gross value added is reported in the survey on EGSS Data on GVA. Therefore data  relies on estimation methods. The assumption is that the ratio on GVA added of environmental and non-environmental producers is identical. The structural statistics for manufacturing, construction and services serve as the data source for the ratios.  
For certain economic activities estimation methods have been developed (see also the German final report on EGSS, Eurostat Project Grant Number 50904.2012.004-2012.431): Organic agriculture (NACE A / CEPA 4), Renewable electricity production and renewable heat supply (NACE D / CReMA 13A), Waste and waste water management (NACE 37–39 / CEPA 2 – 4).  
Please note that the methodology on estimating employment regarding renewable electricity production and renewable heat supply has been revised in reporting year 2017.
Furthermore, the assignment of protected forests has been revised in reporting year 2017. Data on protected forests is reported under CEPA 6 (only output and employment).
New estimation methods were introduced in reporting year 2017 for the following activities: Production of biofuels (NACE 10 – 12 and 20 / CReMA 13A), Management of water (NACE 22 – 23, 24 – 25, F and 71 / CReMA 10).
The annual survey addresses establishments that produce goods for environmental protection or provide construction and services for environmental protection. The survey covers establishments in all sectors of the economy (exclude NACE A –  agriculture, forestry and fishing). Cut-off thresholds were introduced as of reporting year 2016. Excluded from the survey are establishments in NACE B to F with less than 20 persons employed as well as establishments NACE G to U with a total annual turnover of less than 1 million euros. As of the 2017 reporting year, companies located in NACE 37-39 are no longer surveyed.

The main data source for the variables output, exports, and employment is the survey on EGSS for the reporting year 2020. Environmental turnover and exports are reported by environmental domain (CEPA, CReMA 13 and CReMA 15). Environmental employment is reported in sum for the establishment. It is not reported by environmental domain. It is aligned to environmental domains based on the share of turnover (by NACE and environmental domain).  
No gross value added is reported in the survey on EGSS Data on GVA. Therefore data  relies on estimation methods. The assumption is that the ratio on GVA added of environmental and non-environmental producers is identical. The structural statistics for manufacturing, construction and services serve as the data source for the ratios.  
For certain economic activities estimation methods have been developed (see also the German final report on EGSS, Eurostat Project Grant Number 50904.2012.004-2012.431): Organic agriculture (NACE A / CEPA 4), Renewable electricity production and renewable heat supply (NACE D / CReMA 13A), Waste and waste water management (NACE 37–39 / CEPA 2 – 4).  
Please note that the methodology on estimating employment regarding renewable electricity production and renewable heat supply has been revised in reporting year 2017.
Furthermore, the assignment of protected forests has been revised in reporting year 2017. Data on protected forests is reported under CEPA 6 (only output and employment).
New estimation methods were introduced in reporting year 2017 for the following activities: Production of biofuels (NACE 10 – 12 and 20 / CReMA 13A), Management of water (NACE 22 – 23, 24 – 25, F and 71 / CReMA 10).
The annual survey addresses establishments that produce goods for environmental protection or provide construction and services for environmental protection. The survey covers establishments in all sectors of the economy (exclude NACE A –  agriculture, forestry and fishing). Cut-off thresholds were introduced as of reporting year 2016. Excluded from the survey are establishments in NACE B to F with less than 20 persons employed as well as establishments NACE G to U with a total annual turnover of less than 1 million euros. As of the 2017 reporting year, companies located in NACE 37-39 are no longer surveyed.

Only for estimations other statistics are used: Organic agriculture (NACE A / CEPA 4): Data on the number of organic agricultural entities, the area of utilized organic farming land and the number of fulltime equivalents from Destatis. Renewable electricity production and renewable heat supply (NACE D /CReMA 13A): Exports and price data from Destatis.

The EGSS questionnaire contains a list of environmental measures and activities by environmental domain. The technical nature determines the scope of environmental products listed here. The catalogue is verified by national experts.
In order to make up for environmental technologies and measures that are not explicitly listed or to account for new environmental technological developments, there are positions "other" by environmental domain. The respondent is asked to briefly describe the position "other". New measures are assessed annually before expanding the catalogue. It is the responsibility of the respondent to determine whether or not the products and services fulfill the environmental purpose and correspond to the positions listed in the catalogue. Borderline cases are discussed with the NSI. In general, adapted goods are not considered  in the survey.
 The scope is verified and revised regularly. The examples described in the list of environmental measures and activities are annually revised and based on the EGSS operational list.

Estimations are based on the CEPA/CReMA definitions, explanations and examples of environmental protection activities and resource management  activities  (see EGSS handbook). In the following cases there are different valuations compared to EUROSTAT: Organic agriculture (NACE A / CEPA 4):  Excluded are aquaculture products. Renewable electricity production and renewable heat supply (NACE D /CReMA 13A): Excluded is the production of fuel wood.
New estimation methods are developed  for environmental domains with data gaps. For example, a new estimation method has been developed  for CReMA 10 (Management of water) for the 2017 reporting year.

Annually.

German survey on EGSS is a primary statistic.
Secondary data for estimations are taken from various sources: from other statistics of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), Federal Association of the Energy and Water Industries (BDEW)

During and after the survey plausibility checks are applied, i.e. previous data is considered, total turnover from economic statistics as a benchmark for EGSS turnover. Within the framework of plausibility checks, the employees of EGSS are also compared with the total employees. In addition, all estimates are compared with the data from the previous years.
EGSS data is compared to data from other sources for example total turnover and total employment. (Total turnover / total employment must always be greater than EGSS turnover / EGSS employment.)

EGSS OUTPUT
Data on turnover with environmental goods and services (EGS) is retrieved from the German survey on EGSS for the respective reporting year. The data is primary data and equal to other economic surveys that are primary data for national accounts. Establishments are asked to report EGSS turnover differentiated by environmental technologies, which are listed in the technology catalogue attached to the questionnaire of the EGSS survey. Each environmental technology in the list is related to an environmental domain. Every establishment is assigned to a specific economic acitivity (NACE Rev. 2). Combining these information leads to the set up the output table. Data can be provided for the following environmental domains:  CEPA 1, CEPA 1.1.2 / 1.2.2, CEPA 2, CEPA 3, CEPA 4, CEPA 5, CEPA 6,  CEPA 9, CReMA 13 A and CReMA 13 B. Figures regarding sectors D and E are estimated based on the proposed methods in the "Practical guide towards compiling EGSS statistics", pp.27. Furthermore estimations regard the output for organic farming (NACE A), management of protected forests (NACE A) and output of renewable heat and electricity production (NACE D). In addition, output figures for the production of biofuels (CReMA 13a) and management of water (CReMA 10) were estimated for the first time in the 2017 reporting year. From the reporting year 2020, the values for the sections 8.1.2 "R&D for the protection of climate and ozone layer (as a subgroup of research and development for environmental protection)" and 15.1.1 "R&D for the production of energy from renewable sources (as a subgroup of R& D for resource management)" were reported for the first time.
The German survey only considers market activity  (the only exception is NACE O). Output for NACE O is non-market output. Estimations address also non-market output, in one case: Measures related to forests in protected areas (CEPA 6 - only output and employment). Protected areas are a public good.

EGSS GROSS VALUE ADDED (GVA)
In order to keep the EGSS-survey simple gross value added is not surveyed but estimated. The central assumption, which is very restrictive, is that the gross value added ratios of environmental and non-environmental producers are identical. In a first step, the publicly available official data on the variables gross value added, output and turnover for every NACE category (4-digit), which are part of the EGSS-survey are collected. Based on the collected figures the gross-value-added to output ratio and the output to turnover ratio per NACE 4-digit categories is calculated. If no information on the gross value added is available on a four digit level, the average of all available rates is applied. In a second step, the micro data of the manufacturing industry are used (unfortunately we do not have any microdata for the service sector). Based on the received micro data from SBS the gross-value-added to output ratio and the output to turnover ratio per NACE 4-digit category is calculated. If  exact gross value added figures on at least 50 percent of the environmental producers of a certain NACE 4-digit category or of at least 10 environmental producers are available, the average of the gross-value-added to output ratio and of the output to turnover ratio is calculated and  these ratios are used for the respective NACE categories, instead of the general ratios from step 1. Furthermore estimations regard the GVA for organic farming (NACE A), for renewable heat and electricity production (NACE D), for waste and waste water management (NACE E), for the production of biofuels (NACE 13 A), for management of water (NACE 22, 23, 24, 25, 42, 43, 71). The estimates presented are based on data from the various structural statistics.

EGSS EXPORT
The EGSS survey considers exports as a reported variable. Export figures follow the same method as figures on output (see above). For estimations, exports are derived from other data sources (e.g. foreign trade statistics from Destatis). Only for organic farming no export data is available; exports are assumed to be zero according to external experts.

EGSS EMPLOYMENT
Information on full time equivalents related to EGSS is retrieved from the data collection of the German survey on EGSS. Establishments are asked to report the total numbers of full equivalents that produce environmental goods, construction work or services. Regarding EGSS fulltime equivalents there is no differentiation by environmental domain in the EGSS questionnaire. The EGSS fulltime equivalents by environmental domain and economic activity are calculated as follows: The total number of fulltime equivalents by economic activity is assigned to the environmental domains by the share of EGSS turnover for the environmental domain in the respective economic activity. Formula: ((output of NACE X in environmental domain Y) / (total output of NACE X)) * (total employment NACE X)) Furthermore employment figures have been estimated (if possible on the base of FTEs) for organic farming (NACE A), for management of protected forests (NACE A), for renewable heat and electricity production (NACE D) (Employment figures for reporting year 2017 have been calculated based on a renewed formula, because there was in the past an underreporting for actual employment. The reporting years 2014, 2015 and  2016 have been revised accordingly), for waste and waste water management (NACE E), for the production of biofuels (NACE 13 A), for management of water (NACE 22, 23, 24, 25, 42, 43, 71)

Not requested for this metadata collection.

Starting with the 2020 reporting year, the German statistics have redefined and differentiated the reports on "improvement of the energy efficiency of buildings". They now include the energy refurbishment of existing buildings ( e.g., measures that result in an improvement in the efficiency class of at least KfW efficiency house standard 115) and the construction of new efficiency houses (e.g., construction of efficiency, passive and plus energy houses with KfW efficiency house standard 55, 40, 40 Plus or better). In principle, only the additional costs for measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings are to be reported.

They are now differentiated according to the following criteria: Thermal insulation of the building envelope (e.g. installation or manufacture of windows for thermal insulation with a U-value of less than 1.0 W/m²K, large components such as window frames, fittings, films for coating glass, roller shutters, Closing of thermal bridges, large components such as thermal insulation materials for buildings, insulation boards and mats, installation, service and planning), Energy-efficient heating technology (e.g. installation or production of condensing boilers, heat pumps, solar thermal and micro-CHP, pellet heating), Energy-efficient ventilation and air-conditioning technology (e.g. ventilation systems with heat recovery, automated control systems for monitoring and adjusting the indoor climate), Energy-efficient lighting technology (e.g. daylight sensors with dimmers, motion detectors, energy-efficient lighting concepts) and other environmental protection services to improve the energy efficiency of buildings that cannot be assigned to the preceding keys (e.g., building automation measures, production of software for controlling electrical systems, including large components, installation, service and planning).

The data is not differentiated for the construction of new buildings from the refurbishment of existing buildings. The memorandum item therefore includes the full value of the production of the construction of NZEB (production of NACE F).

Not applicable.

Not requested for this metadata collection.