German renewable jobs count falls to 371,000 in 2013

May 27, 2014 - The German renewable industry provided jobs to 371,400 people in 2013, as compared to 399,800 in 2012, a government study shows.

According to the report, commissioned by the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the steepest employment numbers fall was registered in the solar sector due to the reduction of feed-in tariffs. In the solar photovoltaic (PV) segment the number of job positions halved to 56,000 in 2013 from 100,300 a year before. Meanwhile, the solar thermal segment provided employment to 11,400 people last year, against 12,200 in 2012.

On a more positive note, employment figures on the wind market registered an improvement, both in the onshore and offshore segments. About 119,000 people were working in the onshore wind sector in 2013, up from 104,000 in 2012, whereas the offshore industry employed 18,800 people, up by 1,000 year-on-year.

The German biogas segment provided jobs to 49,200 people, less than the 50,400 employed in 2012.

The survey was conducted by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the Institute of Economic Structures Research, the German Aerospace Center and others.

On a global level, the renewable energy industry provided direct and indirect employment to 6.5 million people across the world last year, as compared to 5.7 million in 2012, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said earlier in May. The largest job providers in the sector were China, Brazil and the US - with 2.6 million, 894,000 and 625,000 people employed, respectively.

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