Classification of Economic Activities 2003 (WZ 2003)

The Classification of Economic Activities 2003 is organised according to the characteristic 'performed activities' (Federal Statistical Office 2003: 19).
The WZ 2003 is organised into five levels: 17 sections, 60 divisions, 222 groups, 513 classes and 1,041 subclasses (in addition, 31 subsections are identified by a two-digit letter code) (Federal Statistical Office 2003: 13).

Origin/Creator:	Federal Statistical Office
Method/Structure:	The WZ 2003 was formally developed from the ISIC Rev. 3.1 and the NACE Rev. 1.1. The top level of classification, the sections, of all three classifications is identical (Federal Statistical Office 2003: 12f.). The second level of classification, the divisions, is almost identical in all three classifications. In the WZ 2003, only the divisions for recording production activities of private households for personal use were not considered (ibid.). The third and fourth classification levels , the groups and classes, are the same for the NACE Rev. 1.1 and the WZ 2003 (except for the recording of production activities of private households). These levels are an adaptation of the ISIC Rev. 3.1 to European requirements (ibid.). The lowermost classification level, the subclasses, only exists in the WZ 2003 (ibid.).
Development/implementation for Germany:	The WZ 2003 is an update of the WZ 93. The structure of the previous version has been mostly retained. The Classification of Economic Activities was changed when technical and economic changes made this necessary (cf. Federal Statistical Office 2003: 3).

Related classifications:

Classification of Economic Activities 2008 (WZ 2008)

Knowledge and technology-intensive industries

Statistical Classification of Economic Activities (NACE Rev. 1.1)

International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities Revision 3.1 (ISIC Rev. 3.1)

Keywords

classification of economic activities, produced goods, services, intended use, production technology, production process, production activity

Classification of Economic Activities 2003 (WZ 2003)

Fundamental literature: Federal Statistical Office (2003): Klassifikation der Wirtschaftszweige mit Erläuterungen Ausgabe 2003. Statistisches Bundesamt: Wiesbaden.