NAICS (most commonly pronounced as “nakes”) is an industry classification system developed by the statistical agencies of the U.S., Canada and Mexico, respectively the United States Office of Management and Budget, Statistics Canada and Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática of Mexico.
Why these three countries? NAICS was created within the context of the North American Free Trade Agreement and is designed to be a common statistical framework to facilitate the analysis of the three economies and provide common definitions of the industrial structure of the three countries.
NAICS is the standard used by all Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. It was adopted in 1997 to replace the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.
(SIC codes, created in 1937, was the first and somewhat entrenched industrial classification system used in the U.S. While NAICS is the official industrial classification system used by Federal agencies, SIC still has a strong hold across the general business world and even within certain government entities. For example, large national providers of business information on companies will most often have both a SIC and a NAICS code for a given business but many may still only display an SIC code.)
NAICS is a hierarchical structure composed of:
* Sectors with 2 digit codes
* Subsectors with 3 digit codes
* Industry groups with 4 digit codes
* Industries with 5 or 6 digit codes.
Example of an hierarchical structure:
56:
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
561:
Administrative and Support Services
5613:
Employment Services
56131:
Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services
561311:
Employment Placement Agencies
561312:
Executive Search Services
The two digit codes and descriptions for Sectors are:
11:
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
21:
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
22:
Utilities
23:
Construction
31-33:
Manufacturing
42:
Wholesale Trade
44-45:
Retail Trade
48-49:
Transportation and Warehousing
51:
Information
52:
Finance and Insurance
53:
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
54:
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
55:
Management of Companies and Enterprises
56:
Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
61:
Educational Services
62:
Health Care and Social Assistance
71:
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
72:
Accommodation and Food Services
81:
Other Services (except Public Administration)
92:
Public Administration