What is WZ 2025?

WZ 2025 is the German Classification of Economic Activities, edition 2025, published by the Federal Statistical Office, Destatis. It is the national classification derived from NACE Rev. 2.1, with a deeper fifth level for national needs. Destatis states in its WISTA article on the introduction of WZ 2025 that the national classification had to be revised after the European revision, and that the article gives an overview of the gradual introduction of the revised classification. WZ 2025 matches NACE Rev. 2.1 completely up to the fourth level, the class level, and adds the subclass as a fifth, deepest level.

It is a statistical classification. It does not decide tax, licensing, funding or any other matter for a specific business.

How does WZ 2025 relate to NACE Rev. 2.1?

NACE Rev. 2.1 is the European classification, set by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/137 of 10 October 2022 (FIXED), which entered into force on 9 February 2023 (FIXED). The German classification is derived from it. Destatis states that WZ agrees completely with NACE up to and including the fourth level, the WZ class, and that the WZ subclass is inserted as a fifth level for national interests and needs. That agreement means that the first four digits of a WZ code and the first four digits of the corresponding NACE code describe the same heading. The fifth level, the subclass, is German specific. A reader who compares German statistics with European statistics should therefore compare at class level or above, and should treat the subclass as a national breakdown that other countries do not share in the same form.

Level	Identifier	Scope
Section	One letter	Broad area, shared with NACE
Division	Two digits	Narrower field, shared with NACE
Group	Three digits	Narrower field, shared with NACE
Class	Four digits	Most detailed European level, shared with NACE
Subclass	Fifth level, German specific	Deeper breakdown for national needs

The table above follows the Destatis description of the levels. The subclass identifier format is not asserted in this guide, because the Destatis pages fetched for this work describe the subclass as a fifth level without stating a single identifier format in the passages checked.

Who publishes WZ 2025, and where is it found?

WZ 2025 is published by Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office, working with the statistical offices of the federal states. Destatis states that WZ 2025 and its keyword index, then comprising about 35,000 keywords, are available on the classification server of the federal and state statistical offices. The classification server is the platform where the classification, its structure and its keyword index are published. A reader who needs the German structure should use the classification server and the Destatis introduction article, not a secondary summary. The server is named in the Destatis article as the place where the classification stands. This guide does not give a server address, because no address was verified on a Destatis page fetched for this work, and a guessed address could misdirect a reader.

What does WZ 2025 not do?

WZ 2025 does not determine the code for any reader, and it does not decide any question that belongs to another authority. The EUR-Lex summary states that the European legislation only applies to statistical purposes, and that it does not oblige member states to collect, publish or supply data. The German classification serves the same statistical purpose at national level: it ensures that the economic activities of statistical units are captured in a consistent manner, so that official statistics can be produced and compared. A WZ code does not grant a licence, set a tax rate, decide employment status, or decide eligibility for funding or a collective agreement. Those matters rest with the authorities and registers that apply their own rules. The classification groups activities. It decides nothing else.

Where is a WZ code confirmed?

A WZ code is confirmed with Destatis, through the classification server and the published structure, and with the register that holds the entry for a specific unit. Destatis publishes the classification. It does not hold every business register entry, and this guide does not assert a single German register check procedure, because no such procedure was stated on the Destatis pages fetched for this work. A reader who needs the entry for a specific unit should ask the register that holds it, stating the version beside the code, and should check the meaning of the heading in the WZ structure on the classification server. This site holds no register and decides no entry.

WZ 2025 is the German classification derived from NACE Rev. 2.1, it matches NACE to class level with a German fifth level added, and Destatis publishes it through the classification server. ”