How many headings does WZ 2025 have?

WZ 2025 has 22 sections, 87 divisions, 287 groups, 651 classes and 983 subclasses. Destatis publishes that comparison in its WISTA article on the introduction of WZ 2025, against WZ 2008 with 21 sections, 88 divisions, 272 groups, 615 classes and 839 subclasses. The net changes are therefore plus 1 section, minus 1 division, plus 15 groups, plus 36 classes and plus 144 subclasses. The counts describe the published structure.

They do not describe how many headings changed content, because a heading can keep its count position while changing its scope, and a heading can change its identifier while keeping its scope. Counts are a starting point for understanding the scale of the revision. The correspondence tables and the notes are the record of what actually moved.

What do the counts show?

The counts show that the revision was broad but not a wholesale replacement. At class level, 36 more classes exist than before, on a base of 615. At group level, 15 more groups exist. At division level, one fewer division exists, because Division 45 was removed and its activities were placed elsewhere, while the new section added a section without adding a division at the same rate. At section level, the count rose from 21 to 22 because the old Section J was split into two sections. The subclass count rose most sharply, by 144, because the German fifth level was expanded for national needs. A reader who reads only the net counts will miss the rearrangement inside them: merges reduce counts, splits raise them, renames leave them unchanged, and the net figure is the sum of all three movements.

Level	WZ 2008	WZ 2025	Net change
Section	21	22	Plus 1
Division	88	87	Minus 1
Group	272	287	Plus 15
Class	651 minus 36, that is 615	651	Plus 36
Subclass	839	983	Plus 144

The table above reproduces the Destatis comparison as published in the WISTA article. The class row for WZ 2008 is stated as 615 in the Destatis table. The wording in the table avoids a bare subtraction that could be misread, and every count is a count of headings in the published structure, not a count of activities or businesses.

What do the counts not show?

The counts do not show which headings merged, which split, and which were renamed. A net increase of 36 classes is consistent with many different patterns of movement. It is consistent with 36 new classes and no merges, and it is equally consistent with a larger number of splits offset by merges. The counts also do not show the effect on any dataset. A dataset that used a merged heading will show a break even though the total count rose. A dataset that used a renamed heading will show no break in count, even though its title changed. Counts are therefore useful for describing the structure, and useless on their own for tracing a heading. Tracing needs the correspondence table for the heading concerned, and the explanatory note for the new heading.

How should the counts be cited?

The counts should be cited with their source and their version. A citation that states 651 classes without stating that the figure is for WZ 2025, as published by Destatis, is incomplete, because an earlier version had a different count. A citation that states the counts for the European levels without stating that the subclass count is German specific is also incomplete, because other countries have different fifth levels or none. The counts in this guide are cited to the Destatis WISTA article, which compares WZ 2008 and WZ 2025 level by level. A reader who needs counts for another national variant should check that country’s institute, because national fifth levels differ, and a German subclass count must never be presented as a European count.

What is the limit of this guide?

This guide states counts only. It does not determine any reader’s code, and it does not decide tax, licensing, funding or collective agreement questions. A count of headings describes the classification. It describes nothing about a specific business. Confirmation of a unit entry sits with the register holding it, and confirmation of a heading meaning sits in the WZ structure published by Destatis. This site holds no register and decides no entry.

WZ 2025 counts 22 sections, 87 divisions, 287 groups, 651 classes and 983 subclasses, the net changes hide merges, splits and renames inside them, and the correspondence tables show what moved heading by heading. ”