Classification Detail
International Classification for Administrative Data on Trafficking in Persons (IC-TIP)
Basic Bibliographic Information
Status:
Operational
Type:
To Be Determined
Citation:
N/A
ISBN:
N/A
Website:
Custodian:
United Nations Statistics Division
Available Formats:
N/A
Year Adopted:
2025
Year Published:
N/A
Available Languages (besides English):
N/A
Availability:
Fully available only in English.
Purpose of the Classification
Statistical Domains (in CSA 2.0):
Purpose:
The IC-TIP aims to standardize administrative data collection on trafficking in persons (TIP) to enhance data harmonization, comparability, and quality. It provides a framework for governments and organizations to systematically record TIP events, victims, perpetrators, and reporting entities, ensuring consistency in definitions and categories. This facilitates robust national and international reporting, policy formulation, and targeted interventions.
Main Applications:
•National/International Reporting: Enables standardized data aggregation for reports like UNODC’s Global Report on Trafficking in Persons.
•Policy-making: Informs evidence-based policies to combat TIP and protect victims.
•Criminal Justice Coordination: Supports law enforcement and judicial systems in tracking cases and prosecutions.
•Victim Services: Helps design targeted assistance programs by identifying victim profiles and needs.
• Coordination: Supports coordination among counter-trafficking actors, including law enforcement, judicial systems, and international partners, to track cases, share information, and align prosecutions and victim assistance efforts.
Main Users:
•National Entities: Statistical offices, ministries (interior/justice), law enforcement, and social services.
•Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs): Frontline service providers and advocacy groups.
•International Organizations: UNODC, IOM, ILO, and reg
Methodology
Scope:
Covers administrative data on TIP events collected by:
• Law enforcement (e.g., arrests, prosecutions).
• Judicial systems (court records).
• Social services and NGOs (victim assistance cases).
• Central agencies/organizations tasked with collecting data and reporting on TIP at the national level (e.g., National Rapporteurs)
Concept Being Classified:
The TIP event (central unit) and associated units:
• Victims: Demographics, exploitation type, vulnerabilities.
• Perpetrators: Roles, demographics, criminal status.
• Reporting entities: Organizations documenting or responding to TIP cases.
Statistical Units:
N/A
Main Principles:
A three-step tiered model prioritizes variables based on:
1. Feasibility: Core indicators (Step 1) achievable by all governments.
2. Capacity: Enhanced indicators (Step 2) for advanced systems.
3. Need/Utility: Optional granular data (Step 3) for research/policy.
Relationships to Other International Classifications:
Related To:
Major Differences (Scope, Structure, and Concepts):
UNODC ICCS, version 1.0
• Broadly covers all types of crime for statistical purposes.
• Developed by UNODC as a global statistical framework to classify and compare criminal offences.
• Oriented primarily around criminal law definitions and used by national statistical systems for comprehensive crime data.
• Hierarchical structure categorising crimes into primary, secondary, and tertiary levels.
• Uses the criminal offence as the unit of classification
• Disaggregates data primarily by legal and procedural factors.
The IC-TIP builds on the ICCS, specifically mapping to level 0204 (Trafficking in persons), but also expands on it by providing additional elements and further guidance for member states on how to collect and register data on trafficking in persons.
•Concepts rooted in legal definitions of crimes.
•Designed for statistical standardisation across legal systems using criminal law as the basis.
•Focuses more on offender actions and crime events, not on the broader service or victim context.
UN DESA ISIC, Rev. 5
• Developed by the UN DESA to promote international comparability of economic statistics.
• Used by national statistical offices and international agencies to organize data on production, employment, GDP, and trade by industry sector.
• Supports SDG monitoring, economic planning, and policy by providing a standardized way to track economic performance across sectors.
• Hierarchical classification of economic activities, organized by sector, industry, and type of production. Uses the economic activity (i.e. the production of goods or services) as the unit of classification.
Four-level structure:
o Section (alphabetic code, e.g. C – Manufacturing)
o Division (2-digit numeric code)
o Group (3-digit code)
o Class (4-digit code)
• Designed to reflect the organization of productive processes, grouping activities that are similar in terms of inputs, technology, and outputs.
Trafficking in persons is connected to economic industry (or productive activity) through trafficking for forced labour. The ISIC categories of production can be adapted to categorize the industries in which victims have been exploited for productive labour.
• Concepts are based on the nature and organization of economic activities, not legal or administrative frameworks.
• Designed to classify productive processes, grouping activities by similarities in inputs, technologies, and outputs.
• Focuses on the structure of the economy, not individuals or events, enabling analysis of sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, digital services, and environmental industries.
• Used to support economic statistics (e.g. GDP, employment, trade) and policymaking, rather than social protection or criminal justice.
Classification Structure
Definition of Structure:
Level:
Level Name:
Code Format:
Number of Items:
Level 1
TIP category
4-digit numeric code (e.g. 0204 for overall TIP)
8 main categories
Level 2
TIP sub-type
Extended numeric codes with decimals (e.g. 02042.1)
Varies by category; examples include:
Remarks:
-TIP for sexual exploitation (02041)-TIP for forced labour (02042)-TIP for organ removal (02043)-TIP for forced begging (02131)-TIP for forced criminality (02329)TIP for other forms of exploitation (02044)-TIP for unspecified purposes TIP for mixed forms of exploitation-02042.1: Forced/bonded labour-02042.2: Slavery or practices similar to slavery-02044.1: TIP for forced marriage-02044.2 to 02044.5: TIP for other exploitative purposes such as illegal adoption or surrogacyThese are not hierarchical levels but are an integral part of the classification system and used to describe the TIP event; victim; perpetrator and reporting entity in more detail, Three-letter alphanumeric abbreviations (e.g. "sxv" for sex of victim), -Step 1: 17 disaggregating variables-Step 2: At least 15 additional variables-Step 3: Variable; depending on national capacityOrganized in three steps:-Step 1 (Core): Basic; most essential disaggregation (e.g. sex; age; citizenship; event location)-Step 2 (Enhanced): More detailed variables (e.g. means of control; language; relationship to trafficker)-Step 3 (Optional): Contextual variables before and after the trafficking eventThe IC-TIP classification follows a hierarchical structure that is aligned with the ICCS but adds detail specific to trafficking in persons. It is structured around the TIP event as the central unit of classification.
Criteria for Definition of Levels:
The IC-TIP classification levels were defined using a clear set of criteria centred on capacity, feasibility, utility, and need. Feasibility ensures that the basic, minimum standard for data collection is attainable for all countries, regardless of their existing administrative infrastructure. This is the basis for Step 1, which includes a refined set of core variables deemed both realistic to collect and essential for understanding trafficking in persons. Capacity refers to a country's ability to develop and expand its data systems over time, allowing for progression to more advanced data collection (Steps 2 and 3) as coordination and technical resources improve. The criterion of need reflects the practical priorities expressed by governments during consultations; variables in Step 1 are those most urgently required to understand national trends and support interventions, whereas Steps 2 and 3 include variables considered valuable but not always necessary. Lastly, utility speaks to the different uses of the data—ranging from national policy development and victim assistance to international reporting and research—which require varying degrees of data granularity. The step structure is designed to ensure that even countries with lower capacity can contribute to harmonized global data efforts while building toward more comprehensive data systems over time.
Revision Information
Chronology of revisions/versions of the classification:
Year Adopted:
Title or Version Number:
Website:
2025
Official Adopting Entity:
Coordinating Entity:
Supporting Documents
Coding Index Available:
No
Correspondence with Other Classifications:
Classification:
Correspondence Table:
UNODC ICCS, version 1.0
UN DESA ISIC, Rev. 5
Training Materials and Other Documents:
Correspondence tables with ICCS and ISIC planned as annexes in future guidance.
Training Website:
Contact Information
Agency / Office:
N/A