Who reports under the VSME? New figures on the DNK dashboard

The German Sustainability Code (DNK) has launched a new dashboard that, for the first time, provides a public snapshot of reporting under the Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standard for non listed SMEs (VSME) on its DNK Platform. The dashboard offers an aggregated summary of how VSME reports are distributed – by reporting year, module, company size, sector and federal state. In doing so, it highlights how voluntary sustainability reporting is taking shape across Germany’s SME (small and medium-sized enterprises) landscape.

The DNK dashboard is designed for:

• companies looking to contextualise their own VSME reporting,
• political actors tracking the progress of voluntary sustainability reporting among SMEs,
• banks and business partners requesting ESG (environmental, social and governance) data from their supply chains, and
• anyone seeking an overview of how the VSME Standard is being applied on the DNK Platform.

The VSME was replaced in July 2026 by the enhanced Voluntary Standard (VS). The DNK is currently upgrading the VSME module of the DNK Platform to the new VS module and expects this to be completed by the end of 2026. Data from VS reports will be incorporated into the DNK dashboard going forward. 

Data basis: VSME reports that have passed the plausibility check

The analyses are based exclusively on VSME reports (and, going forward, VS reports) that have passed the DNK plausibility check carried out by independent expert reviewers. The DNK dashboard includes both published and unpublished reports. When submitting a report for the plausibility check, users confirm that their data may be included in the anonymised analyses. All data is presented solely in aggregated form, ensuring that no conclusions can be drawn about individual companies. The database is updated monthly and grows with every new report submitted.

What does the dashboard show?

Distribution by reporting years and modules

The overview dashboard first shows how submitted reports are distributed across reporting years. The breakdown by reporting modules is particularly revealing: the Basic Module is mandatory when using the VSME Standard (and, going forward, the VS Standard), while the more extensive Comprehensive Module is an optional add-on. The EU Commission recommends the latter for sharing data with financial service providers and supply chain stakeholders. Already 88% of companies have opted to use both the Basic and Comprehensive Modules in their VSME reporting (as at September 2026). This is a clear signal that many companies consider sustainability reporting beyond the minimum requirements to be useful – or that stakeholders are increasingly asking for it.

Company size: Most VSME reports come from SMEs

The DNK dashboard also provides an overview of the company sizes of organisations submitting reports. The majority of reporting companies fall into the category of up to 250 employees – precisely the group for which the VSME Standard was originally designed. This shows that the standard has reached its intended audience of SMEs and is already being used in this segment.

Sectors: Where the VSME Standard is used most

The dashboard also presents an aggregated view of sector distribution for the first time. Sector classification is based on the Federal Statistical Office’s WZ 2025 classification of economic activities, which is aligned with the European NACE system and which companies specify in their DNK Platform profiles. Because companies can be assigned to multiple economic sectors, the number of sector assignments may exceed the total number of reporting companies.
This sector breakdown provides transparency around where the VSME Standard is most widely used – and where there is still room for development. Companies from the fields of scientific and technical services, as well as those from manufacturing, are particularly well represented (as at September 2026). Since sectors face different sustainability risks, transformation challenges and market requirements, this analysis offers an important contextualisation of voluntary reporting to date. 

Regional distribution: VSME reporting by federal state

The DNK dashboard’s interactive map of Germany visualises the regional distribution of VSME reporting. To account for differences in the number of companies across federal states, submitted VSME reports are not shown solely in absolute terms but are also presented in relation to the total number of registered companies in each state.* Users can also hover over the federal states to view the absolute figures for each one. The map’s colour shading indicates how pronounced VSME reporting is relative to the density of companies in the state. Companies located outside Germany are not included in the regional view. 

What the dashboard is deliberately not designed to do

The DNK dashboard is positioned as a tool for overview and transparency. It does not assess the quality of individual sustainability reports, nor does it produce rankings of companies, regions or sectors.
The results shown are based on self reported information provided by companies on the DNK Platform. The DNK does not check the report contents. As part of the DNK plausibility check, independent DNK reviewers analyse the responses in each report for consistency, coherence and formal completeness. Because the VSME is a voluntary reporting standard and companies are not required to answer every data point, the dataset does not constitute a full statistical survey. The results should therefore be understood as aggregated insights into current reporting activity on the DNK Platform. As the dataset grows, the informative value of the dashboard will continue to increase. 

Outlook: ESG data to follow

With our DNK dashboard, we are providing an initial overview of key figures and general information about reporting companies. In the next phase of development, the dashboard will be expanded to include content based analyses across the areas of General Information, Environment, Social and Governance.
The plan is to visualise selected data points that have been prioritised together with stakeholders and that can be robustly aggregated in terms of both content and method. 
In this way, the dashboard will offer an increasingly comprehensive view of the progress of voluntary sustainability reporting in Germany’s SME sector.

Access to the DNK dashboard: Public and free of charge

The DNK dashboard is publicly accessible and free to use. We continuously expand its analyses and features, and the dataset grows with every new VSME report submitted (and, in future, VS reports). We welcome your feedback and suggestions at julia.kranner@giz.de. 

*Based on the official Statistical Business Register maintained by the German Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), which provides figures on registered companies by federal state: GENESIS-Online – table “Legal units (Business register system): Länder, years, economic sections, employee size classes”

FAQs about the DNK dashboard

What does the DNK dashboard show?

The DNK dashboard provides a public overview of VSME reporting (and, in future, VS reporting) on the DNK Platform. It summarises how submitted VSME reports are distributed across reporting year, reporting module, company size, sector and federal state. These analyses reflect the current progress of voluntary sustainability reporting within Germany’s SME sector.

Which reports are included on the DNK dashboard?

The DNK dashboard includes only VSME reports (and, in future, VS reports) that have passed the DNK plausibility check carried out by independent DNK reviewers. It takes into account both published and unpublished reports. When submitting a report for the plausibility check, users confirm that their data may be included in the aggregated analyses.

Is data from individual companies visible on the DNK dashboard?

No. The DNK dashboard presents all data exclusively in aggregated form, so it is not possible to draw conclusions about individual companies.

Does the DNK dashboard assess the quality of sustainability reports?

No. The DNK dashboard does not assess the quality of individual sustainability reports, nor does it produce rankings of companies, regions or sectors. The results are based on self reported information provided by companies on the DNK Platform. The plausibility check examines consistency, coherence and formal completeness, not the actual contents of the reports.

How often is the data on the DNK dashboard updated?

The data is updated monthly. The dataset grows with every new VSME report submitted. The VSME has now been replaced by the enhanced Voluntary Standard (VS), and the DNK will gradually align its dashboard to reflect this, just as it is doing with the DNK Platform.