Industry classification

Industry classification or industry taxonomy organizes companies into industrial groupings based on similar production processes, similar products, or similar behavior in financial markets.

A wide variety of taxonomies is in use, sponsored by different organizations and based on different criteria.^[1]

Abbreviation	Full name	Sponsor	Criterion/ Unit	Node count by level	Issued
ISIC	International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities	United Nations Statistics Division	production/ establishment	4 digits 21/88/238/419	1948–present (Rev. 4, 2008)
NAICS	North American Industry Classification System	Statistical bureaus of US, Canada, and Mexico	production/ establishment	6 digits 17/99/313/724/1175 (/19745)^1	1997, 2002, (2012)
NACE	Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community	European Community	production/ establishment	6 digits
ANZSIC	Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification
SIC	Standard Industrial Classification	US	production/ establishment	4 digits 1004 categories	1937–1987 (superseded by NAICS, but still used in some applications)
ICB	Industry Classification Benchmark	FTSE	market/ company	10/20/41/114[2]
GICS	Global Industry Classification Standard	Standard & Poor's, Morgan Stanley Capital International	market/ company	2-8 digits 10/24/68/154
UKSIC	United Kingdom Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities
TRBC	Thomson Reuters Business Classification	Thomson Reuters	market/ company	10/25/52/124[2]
SNI	Swedish Standard Industrial Classification

¹The NAICS Index File^[3] lists 19745 rubrics beyond the 6 digits which are not assigned codes.

Besides the widely used taxonomies above, there are also more specialized proprietary systems:

• FactSet's Revere, line-of-business, about 11,000 leaf nodes, acquired in 2013^[4]
• IndustryBuildingBlocks, line-of-business about 15,000 leaf nodes
• First Research taxonomy, used by Hoover's^[5]
• WAND, Inc.'s Product and Service Taxonomy
• Market Research Consulting Firm

See also

• Product classification

Notes

1. Standard & Poor's, "What's an Industry" pdf
2. Dave Nadig, Lara Crigger, "Signal from Noise" IndexUniverse, p. 2
3. http://www.census.gov/eos/www/naics/2007NAICS/2007_NAICS_Index_File.xls
4. http://www.factset.com/campaigns/revere
5. First Research taxonomy at Hoover's

References

• Michael E. Porter (1980). Competitive Strategy. Free Press, New York. ISBN 978-0743260886.
• Michael E. Porter (1985). Competitive Advantage. Free Press, New York. ISBN 978-0743260879.
• Bernard Guibert, Jean Laganier, and Michel Volle, "An Essay on Industrial Classifications", Économie et statistique 20 (February 1971) full text