GRI 201 Economic Performance
GRI 201 covers the economic value generated and distributed by your organisation — revenues, operating costs, employee wages, payments to capital providers, and taxes paid. It is one of the most commonly reported GRI topics and provides the financial context for all other sustainability disclosures.
GRI 201 covers the economic value generated and distributed by your organisation — revenues, operating costs, employee wages, payments to capital providers, and taxes paid. 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed: Revenues; operating costs; employee wages and benefits; payments to capital providers (dividends, interest); payments to government (taxes); community investments.
The four GRI 201 disclosures
201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed: Revenues; operating costs; employee wages and benefits; payments to capital providers (dividends, interest); payments to government (taxes); community investments. The difference between generated and distributed is retained economic value.
201-2 Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due to climate change: Physical and transition climate risks and opportunities with financial implications — timelines, financial magnitude, and management approach. This maps closely to ESRS E1-9 (anticipated financial effects).
201-3 Defined benefit plan obligations and other retirement plans: Coverage of retirement plans, estimated liability, and asset levels.
201-4 Financial assistance received from government: Total monetary value of tax relief, subsidies, investment grants, research and development grants, royalty holidays, and other financial assistance.
EVG&D — economic value generated and distributed
The EVG&D framework shows how your organisation creates and shares economic value across stakeholders. It is a simplified economic value-added statement that all stakeholders — not just shareholders — can understand.
Generated: Total revenues (including interest, royalties, and other income).
Distributed to: Operating costs (payments to suppliers); employee wages and benefits; payments to capital providers (dividends to shareholders, interest to lenders); payments to government (all taxes paid, not just income tax); community investments (voluntary contributions, charitable donations).
Retained: The difference — reinvested in the business or held as reserves.
For multinational companies, GRI 201-1 is most informative when broken down by country or region — showing where value is generated vs where it is distributed.
GRI 201-2 and ESRS E1-9 — climate financial effects
GRI 201-2 requires disclosure of climate-related financial risks and opportunities — covering both physical risks (floods, droughts) and transition risks (carbon pricing, technology change). This overlaps significantly with ESRS E1-9.
ESRS E1-9 is more prescriptive — requiring separate disclosure of physical and transition financial effects with quantification where possible. GRI 201-2 allows more qualitative treatment.
For CSRD companies also using GRI: your ESRS E1-9 climate financial effects disclosure satisfies GRI 201-2 in full. Prepare ESRS E1-9 first — it exceeds GRI 201-2 requirements and the same data works for both.
Frequently asked questions
Is GRI 201-1 the same as our income statement?
Not exactly — it uses similar inputs but presents them differently. EVG&D focuses on stakeholder distribution rather than profit calculation. Operating costs in GRI 201-1 exclude depreciation and financial costs (which are distributions to capital providers). Use your financial statements as inputs but reformat for the EVG&D structure.
Does GRI 201-4 require disclosure of all tax incentives?
Yes — all financial assistance from government must be disclosed, including tax relief, R&D credits, export credits, and investment incentives. This is increasingly scrutinised by civil society organisations and tax justice advocates.
How does GRI 201-1 relate to GRI 207 Tax?
GRI 201-1 shows total taxes paid as part of economic value distribution. GRI 207 (Tax 2019) goes much deeper — requiring country-by-country tax reporting, disclosure of tax strategy, and governance of tax positions. Large companies use both; GRI 207 is the detailed tax supplement to the summary in 201-1.