The classification of economic sectors (WZ 2008) distinguishes 21 economic sections, which are often further summarized for analysis purposes. For example, the "Public and private services (excluding public administration)" sector has the largest number of employees subject to social insurance contributions in the city of Bonn, 63,921, which corresponds to a share of 33.8 percent. This figure does not include employees in public administration, who are reported separately: With 11.9 percent of all employees subject to social security contributions, this sector remains highly relevant in Bonn and comprises 22,518 employees. Freelance, scientific and technical services account for 11.6 percent of all employees, or 22,009 persons. With 20,889 employees, more than one in ten (11.1 percent) work in the information and communication sector. In total, these four sectors alone account for more than two-thirds of all employees (129,337 in absolute terms) in Bonn.
Information and communication grows particularly significantly
Between 2021 and 2022, the information and communication sector was able to increase employment particularly significantly in percentage terms (plus 5.7 percent) and in absolute terms (plus 1,118) – a trend that has already been observed in Bonn for several years. The sector of public and private service providers (excluding public administration) also increased in absolute terms with 1,133 employees (plus 1.8 percent). As in previous years, the health and social services sector was particularly notable for its significant employment impetus.
A large absolute growth can also be observed in public administration with 834 (plus 3.8 percent), professional, scientific and technical services with plus 728 employees (plus 3.4 percent).
The hospitality industry, which had suffered significant losses in previous years, also returned to strong growth with 454 employees or 7.8 percent. The construction industry (plus 124 employees, plus 3.4 percent) was also able to increase and the manufacturing industry (plus 25 employees, plus 0.4 percent) at least showed a stable development. The only sector in the delineation made with a negative sign is financial and insurance services, with losses of minus 152 employees (minus 2.6 percent).
Employment in Bonn grew strongly between 21/22
In summary, it should be noted that the developments in the individual sectors with their respective gains and losses between 2021 and 2022 have led to a significant growth in employment of plus 3 percent or, in absolute terms, of plus 5,480 employees in Bonn. It should be noted that the growth was driven by a wide range of industries, particularly from the service sector. In the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the trend was also upward – at a slower pace – by 1.9 percent. Overall, the employment trend in the federal city of Bonn has been very encouraging, also in a regional comparison. In addition, the positive trend is being driven by future-oriented industries, such as the dynamic ICT sector.
The structural changes of recent years show that employment growth in Bonn has been initiated in particular by the service sector and that this is where the greatest growth impulses or new jobs can be seen. Therefore, the share of the service sector in all employees has systematically increased in recent years to now 93 percent. In contrast, the manufacturing industry as a whole has lost importance in the economic structure, although this is less due to the absolute change in employment figures (these have fluctuated between 13,000 and 14,000 employees in recent years) than to the strong dynamic growth in employment in selected branches of the service sector.
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