NAICS Business Classification Index

NAICS is a unique, all-new system for classifying business establishments. It is the first economic classification system to be constructed based on a single economic concept. Economic units that use like processes to produce goods or services are grouped together. This “production-oriented” system means that statistical agencies in the United States will produce data that can be used for measuring productivity, unit labor costs, and the capital intensity of production; constructing input-output relationships; and estimating employment-output relationships and other such statistics that require that inputs and outputs be used together.

NAICS is the first-ever North American industry classification system. The system was developed by the Economic Classification Policy Committee (ECPC), on behalf of the OMB, in cooperation with Statistics Canada and Mexico’s Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI) to provide comparable statistics across the three countries. For the first time, government and business analysts will be able to compare directly industrial production statistics collected and published in the three North American Free Trade Agreement countries. NAICS also provides for increased comparability with the International Standard Industrial Classification System (ISIC, Revision 3), developed and maintained by the United Nations.

NAICS responds to increasing and serious criticism about the SIC. It reflects the structure of today’s economy in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, including the emergence and growth of the service sector and new and advanced technologies. It is a flexible system that allows each country to recognize important industries below the level at which comparable data will be shown for all three countries.

The recognition of NAICS United States as the official classification system to be used by the U.S. statistical agencies is the culmination of a multi-year review by the ECPC of economic classifications, business data users, and future information needs. The publication in early 1999 of Economic Census data based on NAICS will provide the first glimpse of data based on the new system.

This index is not intended to be a complete listing of all types of businesses. It is an aid in finding classifications by common name and reference to the NAICS Code. All businesses not exempt by law which are in the major groups or sectors listed under each rate class are subject to a license tax whether found in the alphabetical index or not. The License Official shall determine the proper classification of a business not listed.