The quarterly earnings survey records information on the number of full-time, part-time and marginal part-time employees, on the hours they are paid for (not of marginal part-time employees) and on their gross earnings. The survey collects data in almost all branches of economic activity for each full calendar quarter. Apprentices are not included.
The quarterly earnings survey provides important information on the short-term trends of gross earnings. This information plays an important role for evaluating the central objectives of economic policy, that is price stability and the international competitiveness of domestic businesses. The data are also used, for example, in collective bargaining, to calculate compensation for occupational injury, for contract adjustments (for example in contracts about ground rents) and to calculate the labour cost index. The presentation of the results with a breakdown by gender and performance groups (groups of employees with similar qualifications) provides a range of important economic and socio-economic analyses and tabulations.
The quarterly earnings survey has replaced the continuous survey of earnings, which was based on the former Wage and Salary Statistics Law. Up to the reference year 2006, the continuous survey of earnings in industry, wholesale and retail trade and financial intermediation was taken at quarterly intervals for the months of January, April, July and October. In addition to the continuous earnings survey, an annual earnings survey was held up to 2006, which covered the total of all continuous earnings and one-off payments during the calendar year.
How is the quarterly earnings survey conducted?
The quarterly earnings survey is taken in a decentralised manner. The statistical offices of the Länder are responsible for conducting the survey and checking and processing the Länder results. The Federal Statistical Office takes charge of the methodological preparation and further development of the statistics, the aggregation of the Länder results to produce a federal result, and its publication.
The quarterly earnings survey is based on a representative, one-stage stratified sample, and response to the survey is compulsory. It includes about 40,500 local units with 10 employees or with 5 or more employees, covering sections B to S of the German Classification of Economic Activities, Edition 2008 (WZ 2008). As regards section O "Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security" and section P "Education", data on the variables are not collected through the survey but estimated using the statistics on public service personnel. Annual results are calculated from the quarterly results.
When are the results of the quarterly earnings survey released?
Provisional results are published on the website of the Federal Statistical Office 70 days after the end of the reference quarter. The final results are published in a press release 90 days after the end of the reference quarter.
How can the data of the quarterly earnings survey be accessed?
Apart from the dissemination of data by means of press releases, detailed results are available in Fachserien (subject-matter series), which can be downloaded for free from the Office's publication service (only in German). Data from the continuous survey of earnings up to October 2006 are also available in the GENESIS-Online database.
How accurate is the quarterly earnings survey?
The results of the quarterly earnings survey can in principle be regarded as highly accurate because the survey programme consists of variables which can be collated from the businesses' payroll accounting systems.
The relative standard error of the average gross monthly earnings of a full-time employee (excluding extra payments) is between 0.0% and 0.2% for the divisions' level of the branches of economic activity surveyed in Germany. Accuracy increases with the size of the economic branch, as measured in terms of the number of employees. The results of calculations of the relative standard error are documented in the programme of working tables.
The data relating to sections O "Public Administration and Defence; Compulsory Social Security" and P "Education" are not collected through the survey but estimated using the statistics on public service personnel and information from collective agreements. The statistics on public service personnel are compiled once a year recording data for the month of June on the entire German public service. As these data do not become available until more than a year later, the information used for estimates of quarterly earnings is about 2 years old. Apart from that, only the data for June can be used to estimate quarterly results. Up-to-date quarterly results are estimated using information from collective agreements, for example on agreed pay rises. The statistics on public service personnel do not contain information on extra payments. This variable is therefore calculated by means of information from collective agreements. Data on regular weekly working hours are available from the statistics on public service personnel, and so these are used to calculate the hours paid. Paid overtime hours, however, cannot be taken into account. The statistics on public service personnel do not distinguish between branches of economic activity but are classified according to functions. These functions have been converted to branches of economic activity (WZ 2008). It has however not been possible to allocate all the functions with perfect precision to the 3-digit level of WZ 2008. The data for sections O and P exclusively refer to public service employees. Public officials are included.
