The Central Product Classification (CPC) constitutes a complete product classification covering goods and services. It serves as an international standard for assembling and tabulating all kinds of data requiring product detail, including statistics on industrial production, domestic and foreign commodity trade, international trade in services, balance of payments, consumption and price statistics and other data used within the national accounts. It provides a framework for international comparison and promotes harmonization of various types of statistics related to goods and services.

The primary purpose of CPC Version 2 is to classify the goods and services that are the result of production in any economy. This production is accounted for in the national accounts of countries and can be measured and analyzed using the System of National Accounts (SNA). CPC Version 2 is useful in studying transactions in goods and services in detail. It can also be used as a basis for developing lists of goods and services for specific purposes, such as price statistics surveys, tourism statistics surveys or ICT-related surveys, with its primary advantage being that it meets the criteria of an international standard. It has broad acceptance and facilitates the maintenance of systems of categories of products, both with regard to character and definition. It can therefore serve as a framework for international comparison.

A number of CPC-related resources, such as correspondence tables, are accessible from the link provided below.