Economic & Social Affairs @ek\ieXk`feXcJkXe[Xi[@e[ljki`Xc:cXjj`]`ZXk`fef]8cc<Zfefd`Z8Zk`m`k`\j@J@: #I\m%+ @ek\ieXk`feXcJkXe[Xi[@e[ljki`Xc :cXjj`]`ZXk`fef]8cc<Zfefd`Z 8Zk`m`k`\j@J@: #I\m%+ Series M No. 4, Rev.4 Statistical Papers asdf United Nations Published by the United Nations ISBN 978-92-1-161518-0 Sales No. E.08.XVII.25 07-66517—August 2008—2,330 ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/4/Rev.4 Department of Economic and Social Affairs Statistics Division Statistical papers Series M No. 4/Rev.4 International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities Revision 4 asdf United Nations New York, 2008 Department of Economic and Social Affairs The Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat is a vital interface between global policies in the economic, social and environmental spheres and national action. The Department works in three main interlinked areas: (i) it compiles, generates and analyses a wide range of economic, social and environ- mental data and information on which States Members of the United Nations draw to review common problems and to take stock of policy options; (ii) it facilitates the negotiations of Member States in many intergovernmental bodies on joint courses of action to address ongoing or emerging global challenges; and (iii) it advises interested Governments on the ways and means of translating policy frameworks developed in United Nations conferences and summits into programmes at the country level and, through technical assistance, helps build national capacities. Note The designations used and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The term “country” as used in this publication also refers, as appropriate, to ter- ritories or areas. The designations “developed regions” and “developing regions” are intended for statistical convenience and do not necessarily express a judgment about the stage reached by a particular country or area in the development process. Symbols of United Nations documents are composed of capital letters combined with figures. Mention of such a symbol indicates a reference to a United Nations docu- ment. ST/ESA/STAT/SER.M/4/Rev.4 UNITED NATIONS PUBLICATION Sales No. E.08.XVII.25 ISBN: 978-92-1-161518-0 Copyright United Nations, 2008 All rights reserved Printed in United Nations, New York iii Preface The International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) is the international reference classification of productive activities. Its main purpose is to provide a set of activity categories that can be utilized for the collection and report- ing of statistics according to such activities. Since the adoption of the original version of ISIC in 1948, the majority of coun- tries around the world have used ISIC as their national activity classification or have developed national classifications derived from ISIC. ISIC has therefore provided guidance to countries in developing national activity classifications and has become an important tool for comparing statistical data on economic activities at the interna- tional level. Wide use has been made of ISIC, both nationally and internationally, in classifying data according to kind of economic activity in the fields of economic and social statistics, such as for statistics on national accounts, demography of enterprises, employment and others. In addition, ISIC is increasingly used for non-statistical pur- poses. This fourth revision of ISIC (ISIC, Rev.4) is the outcome of a review process that spanned several years and involved contributions from many classifications experts and users around the world. This process resulted in an ISIC structure that is more detailed than the previous version, responding to the need to identify many new industries separately. This is especially applicable in the case of services. Moreover, the relevance of the Classification has been enhanced with the introduction of new high-level categories to better reflect current economic phenomena. A new section entitled “Information and communication” (see part three, sect. J) is one such innova- tion. Comparability has also been enhanced with a number of other regional activity classifications, thus making this version of ISIC a much improved tool for interna- tional data comparison. A number of alternate aggregations have been included in the present publi- cation. They provide analytical tools for areas which, for conceptual reasons, do not lend themselves to aggregation within the existing ISIC structure. Among the alternate aggregations included in this version of ISIC are aggregations for information and communications technology, the informal sector and non-profit institutions, as well as two aggregations for national accounts-type analysis, one at very aggregated and another at an intermediate level of ISIC. The structure of the fourth revision of ISIC was considered and approved by the 1 Statistical Commission at its thirty-seventh session, in March 2006, as the interna- 1 See Official Records of the tionally accepted standard. It now replaces the third revision of the classification2 and Economic and Social Council, 2002, 3 Supplement No.4 (E/2006/24), its update, Revision 3.1, which have been in use since 1989 and 2002, respectively. chap. I, para. 3, item 37/105 (a). 2 Statistical Papers, No.4, Rev.3 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.90.XVII.11). 3 Statistical Papers, No.4, Rev.3.1 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.XVII.4). v Contents Page Preface . iii Historical background . ix Acknowledgements . xii Support for ISIC users . xiii Acronyms and abbreviations . xiv Part one INTRODUCTION Chapter Paragraphs Page I. Overview . 1–21 3 II. The underlying principles of the classification . 22–54 7 A. Purpose and nature of the classification . 22–37 7 1. General considerations . 22–27 7 2. Scope of the classification . 28–29 8 3. Differences from other types of classifications . 30–37 9 B. Principles used in constructing the classification . 38–45 10 C. Structure and coding system of the classification . 46–54 11 III. Application of the classification . 55–157 13 A. Principal, secondary and ancillary activities . 55–63 13 B. Statistical units . 64–102 14 1. General remarks . 64–75 14 (a) Legal entities . 71–72 15 (b) Institutional units . 73–75 15 2. Statistical units in the System of National Accounts . 76–83 16 (a) Enterprise . 77–79 16 (b) Establishment . 80–83 16 3. Other statistical units . 84–89 17 (a) Kind-of-activity unit . 85 17 (b) Local unit . 86–87 17 (c) Unit of homogeneous production . 88–89 17 4. Delineating statistical units . 90–99 18 5. National differences in selecting statistical units . 100–102 19 C. Classification of statistical units . 103–154 20 1. General guidelines . 103–112 20 (a) Value-added substitutes . 107–109 20 (b) Problems with output substitutes . 110–111 21 (c) Problems with input substitutes . 112 21 vi International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Revision 4 Paragraphs Page 2. Treatment of mixed activities . 113–131 22 (a) Treatment of independent multiple activities . 115–116 22 (b) Treatment of vertical integration . 117–119 22 (c) Treatment of horizontal integration . 120–122 23 (d) The “top-down” method . 123–131 23 Box 1. Example: Identifying the principal activity of a reporting unit using the top-down method . 24 Box 2. Example: Identifying the principal activity of a reporting unit using the top-down method within wholesale and retail trade . 27 3. E-commerce . 132–134 28 4. Repair and maintenance . 135 29 5. Outsourcing / activities on a fee or contract basis . 136–145 29 (a) Classification of the contractor . 139 29 (b) Classification of the principal . 140–145 30 6. Government activities . 146–147 30 7. Classification of enterprises . 148–149 31 8. Classification of households . 150–151 31 9. Changes in the classification of units . 152–154 31 D. Capturing information about the activity of units and coding it according to ISIC . 155–157 32 Chapter IV. Other topics . 158–198 33 A. Use of ISIC in establishing related national classifications . 158–169 33 1. Aggregation and disaggregation of ISIC . 162–167 33 2. Level of international comparability . 168–169 34 B. Use of different levels of the classification for the presentation of statistics . 170–171 35 C. Relationship with other classifications . 172–192 35 1. General remarks . 172 35 2. Relationship with product classifications: CPC, HS and SITC . 173–175 36 3. Other derived and related activity classifications . 176–184 36 (a) Derived classifications . 179–181 37 (b) Related classifications . 182–184 37 4. Relationship of other international classifications with ISIC . 185–192 38 D. Indexes to the classification . 193–194 39 E. Correspondence tables . 195–197 40 F. Alternative aggregations for ISIC . 198 40 Contents vii Paragraphs Page Part two BROAD AND DETAILED STRUCTURE Chapter I. Broad structure . 43 II. Detailed structure . 45 Part three DETAILED STRUCTURE AND EXPLANATORY NOTES Section A. Agriculture, forestry and fishing . 65 B. Mining and quarrying . 79 C. Manufacturing . 85 D. Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply . 165 E. Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities . 167 F. Construction . 172 G. Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles . 179 H. Transportation and storage . 194 I. Accommodation and food service activities . 202 J. Information and communication . 205 K. Financial and insurance activities . 216 L. Real estate activities . 222 M. Professional, scientific and technical activities . 223 N. Administrative and support service activities . 232 O. Public administration and defence; compulsory social security . 243 P. Education . 247 Q. Human health and social work activities .