04Jul 2016 
Renewables – a driver of global employment
Last year, the number of people working in the field of renewables stood at 8.1 million worldwide – that's a 5 per cent increase over the preceding year. At a global level, solar energy was the technology to provide for the most jobs. This was different in Germany, where wind power is the biggest jobs engine.
© BMWi, Data base: Renewables 2016 Global Status Report / International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
Last year, the number of employees working in the renewables sector climbed to 8.1 million worldwide. That's five per cent more than in the preceding year. These are figures from the Renewables 2016 Global Status Report, which is based upon data provided by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). In 2014, the number of jobs in the renewables sector had stood at approx. 7.7 million.
Photovoltaics account for the greatest number of jobs
The photovoltaics industry was the number-one employer within the sector, providing 2.8 million jobs worldwide, including 38,000 in Germany. The number of jobs in the global wind-power industry was approx. 1.1 million – not even half the figure for PV.
In Germany, wind power is the greatest jobs engine
In Germany, wind power generates more jobs than solar energy. Last year, some 149,000 people worked in the wind-power industry. That's almost four times as many as the comparative figure for the solar-energy sector. In 2014, the number of people working on wind energy had stood at approx. 138,000.