North American Industry Classification System

North American Industry Classification System
Name	North American Industry Classification System
Abbreviation	NAICS
Type	Classification system
Developed by	United States Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía
Introduced	1997
Latest release	2017 revision
Country	United States, Canada, Mexico

Contents

North American Industry Classification System

The North American Industry Classification System is a standardized coding taxonomy adopted by United States Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, and Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía to classify business establishments across United States, Canada, and Mexico. It provides a common framework used by agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Internal Revenue Service, Employment and Social Development Canada, and Banco de México for statistical reporting, regulatory compliance, and policy analysis. Major institutions like the World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, International Monetary Fund, and United Nations Statistical Commission reference its codes when mapping regional industrial data and international concordances.

Overview

The system assigns six-digit codes that group establishments by primary production processes and align with international standards used by United Nations, Eurostat, Australian Bureau of Statistics, and Statistics New Zealand. Researchers at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, and London School of Economics use NAICS codes when linking microdata from sources such as the Longitudinal Business Database, Survey of Industrial Research and Development, and datasets maintained by National Science Foundation, Federal Reserve Board, and Bureau of Economic Analysis. Major corporations including General Motors, Walmart, Amazon (company), ExxonMobil, and Microsoft appear in NAICS-indexed analyses for market structure, while trade bodies like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and Consejo Coordinador Empresarial use the taxonomy for sectoral advocacy.

NAICS uses a hierarchical structure of sectors, subsectors, industry groups, industries, and national industries represented by six-digit codes. Sectors correspond to major categories found in classifications maintained by United Nations Statistics Division, Eurostat, and the International Labour Organization. Example sector codes map to areas that include activities undertaken by entities like Boeing, Siemens, Toyota Motor Corporation, Pfizer, and Goldman Sachs. Concordance tables relate NAICS codes to legacy systems used by Social Security Administration, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Internal Revenue Service, and international counterparts such as ISIC maintained by the United Nations. Classification decisions are informed by industrial processes practiced by firms such as Caterpillar, Intel Corporation, Toyota, and Procter & Gamble and by input from trade associations like American Petroleum Institute and Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

NAICS codes underpin statistical series reported by Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, and INEGI for measures like employment, payroll, output, and productivity. Economic researchers at National Bureau of Economic Research, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and Peterson Institute for International Economics use NAICS to stratify samples in studies involving firms such as Tesla, Inc., Facebook (Meta Platforms), Apple Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and Chevron Corporation. Regulatory agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Health Canada, and Secretaría de Trabajo y Previsión Social use NAICS for compliance targeting, while procurement platforms run by General Services Administration and municipal authorities employ codes for supplier classification. Market research firms like Nielsen, Gartner, IHS Markit, and McKinsey & Company map product markets to NAICS to analyze sectors dominated by Starbucks, Costco Wholesale, Home Depot, and Nike, Inc..

In the United States, implementation is coordinated by the Office of Management and Budget and operationalized through data collection by the U.S. Census Bureau and reporting by the Bureau of Labor Statistics; major federal datasets such as the Economic Census and County Business Patterns use NAICS extensively. In Canada, Statistics Canada leads adoption across surveys like the Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours and administrative registers used by Canada Revenue Agency and provincial ministries such as Ontario Ministry of Finance. In Mexico, INEGI integrates NAICS with national industry codes used by Secretaría de Economía and datasets employed by Banco de México and customs authorities. Cross-border trade analysts at institutions like United States International Trade Commission, Global Affairs Canada, and World Trade Organization rely on NAICS for harmonizing industrial statistics in trade studies.

Revisions occur periodically through consultation among United States Census Bureau, Statistics Canada, and INEGI with stakeholder input from industry groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, and Confederación Patronal de la República Mexicana. Major updates were released in 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017, each reflecting technological change affecting firms such as Uber Technologies, Airbnb, Inc., Shopify, Oracle Corporation, and SAP SE. Methodological guidance references standards used by United Nations Statistical Commission and research by think tanks including Brookings Institution and Pew Research Center. Ongoing debates involve mapping digital platform activities and services provided by companies like Google, Netflix, Spotify Technology, and Alibaba Group into appropriate NAICS codes, with revisions coordinated alongside labor classification updates by Bureau of Labor Statistics and economic modeling teams at IMF and OECD.

Category:Classification systems