Despite challenging market conditions, the key indicators of population and financial performance of public pure-play (PPP) cleantech companies show signs of improvement, according to EY's annual Cleantech industry performance 2013 report.

Commenting on the activity in the sector, Gil Forer, EY's global cleantech leader says:

"We've seen a notable upturn in the performance of the 424 public pure-play cleantech companies globally. Despite a challenging period of consolidation in certain cleantech segments, fiscal issues in some countries and the continuing impact of the financial crisis; we've seen an annual gain of 18% in market capitalization (US$170 billion), and 12% increase in headcount (512,500). Growth in the Asia-Pacific region was a major factor in these increases."

Globally, the cleantech sector saw the creation of 68 new PPP companies and lost 63 companies in 2012. The Asia-Pacific region was the main winner, increasing 16% to 177 companies, while the company population in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) contracted by 8% to 135 companies. The US and China remain the leading countries in terms of PPP companies, with 70 and 64, respectively.

The corporate focus on energy efficiency continues to boost the segment, with the number of energy efficiency products companies jumping 14% to 50, and market capitalization increasing 25% to US$34.6 billion.

The renewable energy sector showed important signs of recovery as generation companies showed across the board gains, benefitting from lower equipment costs. The number of companies increased 14% to 32, market capitalization increased 8% to US$25.5 billion and revenues increased 23% to US$11.1 billion.

While the number of wind equipment companies fell by 2% to 53, market capitalization increased by 2% to US$30.8 billion and revenues increased 14% to US$35.3 billion. The picture for solar is more mixed, with the number of solar equipment companies falling by 2% but market capitalization up 14% to US$28.8 billion; however, solar revenues declined by 16% to US$42.5 billion.

Biofuels also experienced significant growth in 2012 as the number of companies in the segment increased 8% to 41, market capitalization shot up 25% to US$13.1 billion and revenues grew 14% to US$26.0 billion.

The global headcount of public cleantech companies stands at 512,500, up 12% from last year. China, with over half the global headcount, was the source of this growth, led by additions in the solar and wind segments globally.

Forer concludes: "The cleantech sector globally has shifted to growth. Resource scarcity, energy security concerns, population growth and increasing consumption, by expanding middle classes in emerging markets, will continue to drive this cleantech market growth. China is consolidating its position as the most important cleantech market and is poised to overtake the US as the number one centre for public cleantech companies."