## 4.4.4 Industry and statistical research tools

Industry classifications

Industry classifications are used to classify economic activities. This can be done in a variety of ways.

At the top level, industries are often classified into economic sectors: primary (extraction and harvesting of natural resources), secondary (construction, manufacturing and processing) and tertiary (services).

Below the economic sectors are more detailed classifications. They commonly divide economic activities into industries according to similar functions and markets and identify businesses producing related products.

Industries can also be identified by product. E.g.: construction industry, chemical industry, petroleum industry, automotive industry, electronic industry, hospitality industry, food industry, entertainment industry etc.

Examples of industry classifications

- North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
- Standard Industrial Classification Manual (SIC)

Many more industry classification exist, but NAICS (used by US Federal statistical agencies) is one of the most well-known and well used industry classifications. Although NAICS was developed to replace the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, some databases still use the SIC classification, e.g. EDGAR.

Note: Some databases (also) use database-specific classifications. EMIS uses both the NAICS classification and their own classification of industries.

Statistical classifications

Statistical classifications are used to produce reliable, comparable and methodologically sound statistics.

Examples of official statistical classifications

- Classifications maintained by UNSD
- HS code (Harmonized commodity and coding System).
  Harmonized System (HS) Codes are commonly used throughout the export process for goods. The Harmonized System is a standardized numerical method of classifying traded products. It is used by customs authorities around the world to identify products when assessing duties and taxes and for gathering statistics.

- National classifications (UNSD list)
- SBI-code (in Dutch)
  The Dutch SBI-code is national statistical code that is, amongst others, used by the Central Bureau of Statistics (database Statline), the Dutch Chamber of Commerce and the database CompanyInfo.