Number of “green jobs” increases
Germany’s eco-industry breaks the 100 billion mark
26.06.2024, 17:38
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The trend continues: German companies are earning a lot of money from environmental and climate protection. Sales in 2022 will be in the three-digit billion range. The number of those who produce or provide goods and services in the eco-sector is also increasing.
Environmental protection is becoming increasingly lucrative for German companies. Companies in the manufacturing and service sectors generated around 107.5 billion euros in sales with goods and services for environmental protection in 2022, according to the Federal Statistical Office. With an increase of 16.9 percent over the previous year, the trend of significantly increasing revenues continued here.
The number of so-called green jobs, i.e. employees who produced and provided goods and services for this sector, climbed by 35,000 to 376,000 in 2022. Almost two-thirds of these were in the manufacturing sector, a fifth in construction and a good 13 percent in service providers.
Industrial investments (excluding construction) here amounted to 13.9 billion euros. The running costs of these companies to meet environmental standards amounted to 43.8 billion euros. As in previous years, the highest sales in 2022 were generated in the area of climate protection at 61.7 billion euros. The most important pillars here included steps to increase energy efficiency and save energy, as well as measures to use renewable energy such as thermal insulation of buildings and the business with goods and services in onshore wind power.
This was followed by the areas of air pollution control (21.1 billion euros in sales) and wastewater management (10.7 billion euros) – such as the construction of sewer systems. This also includes noise control, soil remediation and species protection. The largest share of environmentally-related sales was generated by companies in the manufacturing sector, i.e. mechanical engineering, car manufacturers and manufacturers of electrical equipment.
The statisticians’ calculations are based on information from 9,684 companies in the manufacturing and service sectors on environmentally-related sales and employees.