• Purpose:
A standard classification of economic activities arranged so that entities can be classified according to the activity they carry out. The categories of ISIC at the most detailed level (classes) are delineated according to what is, in most countries, the customary combination of activities described in statistical units. The groups and divisions, the successively broader levels of classification, combine the statistical units according to the character, technology, organization and financing of production. Wide use has been made of ISIC, both nationally and internationally, in classifying data according to kind of economic activity in the fields of population, production, employment, gross domestic product and other economic activities (Source: United Nations). ISIC is a basic tool for studying economic phenomena, fostering international comparability of data and for promoting the development of sound national statistical systems. Thus, despite the word "industrial" in its name, ISIC is not just a classification of industries.