NAICS: North American Industry Classification System for Business Statistics

NAICS is the official standard used by U.S. Federal statistical agencies to classify business establishments. Developed jointly by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, it replaced the SIC system in 1997 to ensure comparability across North America. The dataset is maintained by the Office of Management and Budget and provides reference files for collecting and publishing economic data.

Use Cases

• Classifying business establishments for economic surveys based on the standardized industry codes.
• Analyzing industrial composition and economic trends across North America based on the trilateral classification system.
• Building models for market segmentation or supply chain analysis based on official industry categories.
• Harmonizing business data from different sources based on the NAICS reference framework.

Strengths

• Official standard adopted by U.S. Federal statistical agencies, ensuring authoritative use.
• Developed jointly by three countries (U.S., Canada, Mexico), providing high cross-border comparability.
• Replaced the older SIC system in 1997, reflecting a more modern economic structure.

Limitations

• Row count, column definitions, and file formats are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness of the provided reference files is unverified.
• License is listed as 'closed', which may restrict redistribution or commercial use.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), with joint development by U.S. ECPC, Statistics Canada, and Mexico's INEGI.

Collection Method

Developed as a classification standard for statistical agencies.

Time Range

Adopted in 1997, with ongoing revisions.

Freshness

Update plans are mentioned, but last updated date is unknown.

Geography

North America (United States, Canada, Mexico).