International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Revision 4 x The first revision of ISIC (ISIC, Rev.1) was issued in 1958, after having been considered by the Statistical Commission at its tenth session.5 The second revision (ISIC, Rev.2) was issued in 1968 after proposals for the revision had been considered and approved by the Commission at its fifteenth session, in 1968.6 The third revision of ISIC (ISIC, Rev.3) was considered and approved by the Commission at its twenty‑fifth session, in 1989, and issued in 1990.7 The update to the third revision (ISIC, Rev.3.1) was considered and approved by the Commission at its thirty-third session, in 2002, and issued in 2004.8 The third and fourth revisions of ISIC put increased emphasis on harmoniza- tion with other activity classifications and product classifications, adding considerable complexity and constraints that did not apply in earlier revisions of ISIC. As ISIC occupies a central position in the international comparison and analysis of a wide range of statistics, a great deal of attention was devoted to ensuring that ISIC would be compatible with both the economic structure and the statistical practice and needs of the different countries of the world. Both revisions have also introduced an increas- ing level of detail, especially in the part dealing with service activities, reflecting the growth of this sector of the economy in most countries of the world. In addition, har- monization with other classifications has improved the usefulness of ISIC for many analytical and descriptive purposes, such as within the context of the extended elabo- ration of services in the Central Product Classification (CPC). The fourth revision of ISIC In the years since the publication of the third revision of ISIC, the economic structure in many countries of the world has changed at an unprecedented rate. The emergence of new technologies and new divisions of labour between organizations has created new types of activities and new forms of industries, posing a challenge for both pro- viders and users of statistical data. In response to their growing demands, the Expert Group on International Economic and Social Classifications, at its fourth meeting in 1999, considered the need for a revision of ISIC to better reflect changed structures and analytical requirements. Realizing that a full revision would require a longer time to complete, the Expert Group recommended an update to the third revision of ISIC, which became Revision 3.1 scheduled for 2002, to address some smaller immediate concerns regarding the classification and at the same time start preparation for the fourth revision of ISIC, which would be completed in 2006. The objectives of the fourth revision of ISIC were formulated in terms of improv- ing and strengthening its relevance and comparability with other classifications, while considering its continuity. Relevance reflected the need to incorporate new economic production structures and activities, while comparability determined the identified need for a convergence of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Clas- sification (ANZSIC), the General Industrial Classification of Economic Activities within the European Communities (NACE), the North American Industry Classifica- tion System (NAICS) and other activity classifications used around the world. This underscored the realization that comparability should be a very important factor for the fourth revision of ISIC. Continuity reflected the important restriction that changes should only be made where the benefits in terms of relevance or comparability out- weighed the costs in terms of changes made to the previous versions of the classi- fication. In later stages of the revision process, it became more and more clear that continuity was an important element for many countries. 5 International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Statistical Papers, Series M, No. 4, Rev.1 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.58.XVII. 6 International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Statistical Papers, Series M, No. 4, Rev.2 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.68.XVII.8). 7 International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Statistical Papers, Series M, No. 4, Rev.3 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.90.XVII.1). 8 International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, Statistical Papers, Series M, No. 4, Rev.3.1 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.XVII.4).
Historical background xi The development work of different versions of the ISIC, Rev.4 draft, the ques- tionnaires and related materials was carried out by United Nations Statistics Division in consultation with the Technical Subgroup of the Expert Group on International Economic and Social Classifications. The process benefited from the guidance of the Statistical Commission and the Expert Group, which met three times between June 2001 and 2005. At each meeting, the Statistical Commission and the Expert Group reviewed the process employed and progress made during the revision and set or con- firmed new guidelines for the next steps in the revision process. The Technical Subgroup met for a total of 10 (usually week-long) meetings to elaborate the details of the classification. Additional input in this process was provided through seven regional workshops conducted or initiated by the United Nations Sta- tistics Division, meetings with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Working Party on Indicators of the Information Society, the Asso- ciation of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Observatoire économique et statistique d’ Afrique subsaharienne (AFRISTAT) on specific subjects, as well as through several meetings of the NAICS-NACE convergence project, which the Sta- tistics Division attended. These meetings and workshops allowed countries and spe- cialized agencies to provide additional input and also served as a way to inform them about the progress and challenges of the ISIC revision process. Following the recommendations by the Expert Group, the Statistical Commis- sion confirmed that the consultation with all member countries in the revision process should be a priority. This consultation included not only convening the above-men- tioned workshops and meetings, but also disseminating questionnaires seeking input from all countries during different stages of the revision process. On the one hand, this consultation allowed the direct involvement of all major stakeholders, in particu- lar those involved with research already carried out on the convergence of industry classifications; on the other hand, it allowed the deliberation of different viewpoints arising out of different economic settings, which needed to be considered to ensure the relevance of ISIC, Rev.4 as an international reference classification. Three rounds of country consultations were undertaken and detailed question- naires were prepared for each round, covering successively more detailed issues and spanning a range from conceptual and broad structure issues to boundary questions, the detailed classifications structure and explanatory notes. While some of the rules for the application of ISIC, Rev.4 have been changed and the criteria for the construction of the classification and the formulation of explanatory notes have been reviewed, the overall characteristics of ISIC remain unchanged. The detail of the classification has substantially increased. For service-producing activities, this increase is visible at all levels, including the top level, while for other activities, such as agriculture, the increase in detail has affected mostly the lower levels of the classification. In this fourth revision of ISIC, great efforts have been made to address the need for convergence between existing activity classifications at the international and multi- national levels. Experience with the implementation of classifications and development work on classifications carried out in countries around the world have greatly contrib- uted to ISIC, Rev.4. Explanatory notes have been extended to provide additional detail, allowing for more accurate interpretation of the content and boundaries of individual classes, which should lead to a less ambiguous application of ISIC, Rev.4. The rationale for the final ISIC, Rev.4 structure, together with illustrative exam- ples of the interpretation of the classification, will be discussed in the forthcoming Companion Guide to ISIC and CPC. International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Revision 4 xii Acknowledgements In carrying out the revision process, the active participation of the Statistical Commis- sion, the Expert Group on International Economic and Social Classifications and its Technical Subgroup were all vital to the development work that was done. Further inputs into the revision process were obtained from regional workshops and meetings with international and regional agencies, such as the Food and Agricul- ture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Working Party on Indicators of the Information Society, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Observatoire économique et statistique d’Afrique subsaharienne (AFRISTAT), as well as the NAICS-NACE convergence project. During the critical years of the finalization of ISIC, the process benefited from the coordination and support of the Chairman of the Technical Subgroup, Paul Joha- nis of Statistics Canada, and the following members of the Subgroup: Mara Riestra (Argentina), Carlos Rossi (Argentina), Mike McGrath (Australia), Gillian Nicoll (Australia), Branco Vitas (Australia), Norbert Rainer (Austria), Alice Born (Canada), Emile Bruneau (France), V. Arora (India), Vijay Goel (India), A. C. Kulshreshtha (India), Rajeev Lochan (India), Ajay Mehra (India), Swaraj K. Nath (India), Akira Genba (Japan), Kazuhiko Matsuo (Japan), Koki Toida (Japan), Kenichi Takenaga (Japan), Hans van Hooff (Netherlands), Albert Jacques (Netherlands), Khalid Al Mud- hafar (Oman), John Murphy (United States), Niels Langkjaer (Eurostat), Alice Zoppè (Eurostat), Xiaoning Gong (FAO), Robert Mayo (FAO), Margaret Fitzgibbon (IMF), Nataliya Ivanik (IMF), William Cave (OECD), Shaila Nijhowne (UNWTO). Final coordination of ISIC was undertaken by Ivo Havinga of the United Nations Statistics Division, in close collaboration with Ralf Becker, also of the United Nations Statistics Division, who was directly responsible for the different stages of the revision process, including the organization of the classification, the preparation of the text of the explanatory notes; and the organization of meetings and consultation rounds. Mr. Becker was assisted by several other staff members of the Statistics Division, including Karen Cassamajor, Jurgen Schwarzler, Gulab Singh, Adriana Skenderi and Herman Smith.
xiii Support for ISIC users The United Nations Statistics Division is responsible for the development and main- tenance of ISIC, Rev.4. The developers of national activity classifications and other institutions using ISIC may find it in their interest to establish contact with the Statis- tics Division. Users of ISIC may thus receive notification about plans for updates or revisions, information concerning interpretations and rulings, and general technical support in applying the classification. Users are encouraged to bring to the attention of the Statistics Division any difficulties they encounter in the implementation of ISIC. They are also encouraged to request clarification, share their experience and remarks with regard to the adequacy of the classification, and provide ideas or proposals for enhancing its usefulness. A Companion Guide to ISIC and CPC is being published as a supplementary pub- lication to ISIC, Rev.4. The Companion Guide will address in detail the scope of ISIC and the rationale for the chosen ISIC structure, providing explanations and, where possible, illustrative material on the application of the rules and structure of the classi- fication. It will also address in detail some of the new or newly defined areas of interest in the classification, as well as the overall description in terms of activities involved and products produced and transacted, thus elaborating on the link between ISIC and CPC. The Companion Guide to ISIC and CPC is expected to be a useful tool in assisting national statistical offices and other users in implementing the classification. Updated information on ISIC, indexes, proposals for revisions and the revision process are available in the Classifications Registry on the United Nations interna- tional economic and social classifications web site at http://unstats.un.org/unsd/class. Communications should be addressed to the Director, United Nations Statistics Division, Attention: Economic Statistics and Classifications Section, by mail: 2 United Nations Plaza Room DC2-1670 New Y ork, NY 10017 United States of America by fax: 1-212-963-1374 or by e-mail to the Classifications Hotline: [email protected] International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), Revision 4 xiv Acronyms and abbreviations AFRISTAT Observatoire économique et statistique d’Afrique subsaharienne ANZSIC Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification ASEAN Association of South-East Asian Nations COFOG Classification of the Functions of Government CPC Central Product Classification EBOPS Extended Balance of Payments Services Classification FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GDP gross domestic product HS Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System ICNPO International Classification of Non-Profit Organizations ILO International Labour Organization ISCED International Standard Classification of Education ISCO International Standard Classification of Occupations ISIC International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities NACE Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community NAICS North American Industry Classification System SINAP Integrated System of Classifications of Activities by Products SITC Standard International Trade Classification SNA 93 System of National Accounts, 1993 TSA Tourism Satellite Account UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization UNIDO United Nations Industrial Development Organization UNWTO World Tourism Organization