2007 Economic Census

Business Classification

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is a system of grouping establishments into industries based on the similarity of their production processes. For the United States, there are 20 sectors and 1,065 industries in the 2012 NAICS.

NAICS is used by the Census Bureau to facilitate:

• the collection, tabulation, presentation and analysis of data relating to establishments and
• the uniformity and comparability in the presentation of statistical data describing the U.S. economy.

NAICS Search

History

Prior to the implementation of NAICS, the first standardized industry classification method used in the United States was the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system.

In July 1994, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget announced plans to develop a new industry classification system in cooperation with statistical agencies from Mexico and Canada. The new system, the North American Industry Classification System, replaced the SIC in 1997.

Read more about how NAICS affects SIC data users.