How was WZ 2025 approved and published?

WZ 2025 was developed by Destatis from NACE Rev. 2.1 and was officially approved by the European Commission, Eurostat, in November 2024 (FIXED), under Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006, according to the Destatis WISTA article. The approval concerns the national classification as a structure: that it matches NACE Rev. 2.1 up to class level, and that its fifth level sits inside the European structure without breaking comparability at the higher levels. Publication follows approval.

Destatis states that WZ 2025 and its keyword index, then comprising about 35,000 keywords, stand on the classification server of the federal and state statistical offices. The classification server is therefore the publication place for the German structure, and the WISTA article is the introduction that explains the gradual introduction and the main changes.

What does approval mean?

Approval means that Eurostat accepted the national classification as consistent with the European classification. It does not mean that Eurostat assigned any German code, and it does not mean that any individual entry was approved. National classifications are approved as structures, so that statistics compiled under them can be aggregated to European level. The approval date, November 2024 (FIXED), sits before the general application date for data transmission under the European regulation, 1 January 2025 (FIXED). That order is expected: the structure must be approved and published before statistics can be compiled under it. A reader should not treat the approval date as the date on which any register entry changed, or the date on which any statistic was first published under WZ 2025. Those dates are governed by the introduction plan and by domain timetables, described in the gradual introduction guide in this cluster.

Stage	What happened	Date or place
Development	Destatis developed WZ 2025 from NACE Rev. 2.1	Federal Statistical Office
Approval	Eurostat officially approved the new national WZ	November 2024 (FIXED)
Publication	WZ 2025 and keyword index on the classification server	Classification server of the federal and state offices
Introduction	Gradual introduction into official statistics	Domain by domain, see the introduction guide

The table above summarises the stages as stated by Destatis. It states no register recoding date, because no such date was stated on the Destatis pages fetched for this work.

What is the keyword index?

The keyword index is a finding aid that lists words and phrases and points each one to the heading or headings where the activity it names is classified. Destatis states that the index then comprised about 35,000 keywords. An index entry is not a classification decision. A keyword can point to more than one heading, because the same word can describe activities that sit in different headings depending on the production process or the output. A reader who uses the index should follow the pointer to the heading, read the note for that heading, and check neighbouring headings before concluding anything. The index helps a reader find headings. It does not assign a code, and it does not replace the note. This guide does not reproduce index entries, because none were verified on a Destatis page fetched for this work.

How should the publication be cited?

The publication should be cited as WZ 2025, Classification of Economic Activities, edition 2025, published by the Federal Statistical Office, with the classification server as the place of publication. A citation that gives only a code, without the edition, is incomplete after a revision, because the same digits can mean different things under different editions. A citation that gives a keyword index entry without the heading it points to is also incomplete, because the heading, not the keyword, carries the meaning. The WISTA article should be cited for the introduction plan and the counts, and the classification server should be cited for the structure itself. This guide cites the WISTA article as its Destatis source, because the article text was fetched and checked for this work.

What does approval and publication not decide?

Approval and publication do not decide the code for any reader, and they do not decide tax, licensing, funding or collective agreement questions. They make the structure available for use in statistics and, through registers, for entries. The entry for a specific unit is confirmed with the register that holds it. This site holds no register and decides no entry. A reader who treats publication as a determination of a code mistakes the availability of a structure for a decision about a unit. The structure is public. The entry is individual, and it is confirmed individually.

WZ 2025 was approved by Eurostat in November 2024 (FIXED), it is published with its keyword index on the classification server, and the WISTA article explains how its introduction proceeds domain by domain. ”