GEO 533 Regional Economic Development   Tags: economics, geography, industries, trade  

NAICS is the North American Industrial Classification System:

• Pronounced "nakes," NAICS codes are numbers that classify industries (i.e. business activities, like types of manufacturing and services).
• NAICS codes are hierarchical -- the longer the number, the more detailed the industry. NAICS codes are up to six digits long.
• NAICS is the modern version of the old SIC structure.
• NAICS is more detailed than SIC, does a much better job of covering service and technology industries, and covers all three NAFTA economies.
• NAICS official homepage

Examples of NAICS codes:

51 Information
513 Broadcasting and telecommunications
5133 Telecommunications
51332 Wireless telecommunications carriers (except satellite)
513322 Cell phones and cell phone service

So what? NAICS make it easy to:

• Find competitors and customers;
• Find industry reports;
• Benchmark finances (ex. financial ratios and the Economic Census);
• Analyze trade data, employment trends, etc.
• See the Industry Analysis guide for some resources that use NAICS.
  

Identifying NAICS Codes

This five-minute video introduces NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System) codes and demonstrates how to identify an industry's code using the Census web site. SIC codes are covered, too.