SIC Norway: Standard Industrial Classification
The "Standard for næringsgruppering" (SN) or, in English, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) is Norway's framework for categorizing economic activities. It is managed by Statistics Norway and based on the NACE classification system, as with other national industrial classification systems within the European Union. The SIC has five classification levels ranging from broadly defined Sections at the first level to more focused Subclasses at the fifth level reflecting the structure of Norway's industrial context.
Metadata
| Publisher type | National |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Jurisdictions | Norway |
Versions
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2007 (Current)
SIC 2007 has been in in force in Norway since January 2009. It is Norway's implementation of NACE Rev. 2.
Changes Between SIC 2002 and SIC 2007
The changes between SIC 2002 and SIC 2007 are similar to the changes between NACE Rev. 1.1 and NACE Rev. 2. Along with the change in the classification structure with the dropping of the 16 Subsections from SIC 2002, the key difference is the addition of more service-related activities in line with the evolution of the industrial structure of Norway in the period between the two versions.
Structure of SIC 2007
SIC 2007 is structured into five levels, as follows:
Section: 21 Sections identified by letters between A and U.
Division: 87 Divisions identified by two-digit codes.
Group: 270 Groups identified by three-digit codes.
Class: 613 Classes identified by four-digit codes
Subclass: 820 Subclasses identified by five-digit codes.
The table below breaks down each of the 21 sections in SIC 2007. In summary, of the 820 subclasses in SIC 2007, about 65% (529) are in services (Sections B; D-U), 30% (245) are in manufacturing (section C), and 5% (46) are in Agriculture (section A).
Section | Title | Divisions | Groups | Classes | Subclass |
A | Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 3 | 13 | 39 | 46 |
B | Mining and quarrying | 5 | 10 | 15 | 18 |
C | Manufacturing | 24 | 95 | 230 | 245 |
D | Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 |
E | Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 4 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
F | Construction | 3 | 9 | 22 | 27 |
G | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 3 | 21 | 91 | 148 |
H | Transportation and storage | 5 | 19 | 27 | 48 |
I | Accommodation and food service activities | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
J | Information and communication | 7 | 17 | 33 | 38 |
K | Financial and insurance activities | 2 | 6 | 11 | 11 |
L | Real estate activities | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
M | Professional, scientific and technical activities | 7 | 15 | 19 | 31 |
N | Administrative and support service activities | 6 | 19 | 33 | 39 |
O | Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | 1 | 3 | 9 | 9 |
P | Education | 1 | 6 | 11 | 26 |
Q | Human health and social work activities | 3 | 9 | 12 | 51 |
R | Arts, entertainment and recreation | 4 | 5 | 15 | 29 |
S | Other service activities | 3 | 6 | 19 | 20 |
T | Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own account | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
U | Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Total | 87 | 270 | 613 | 820 |
Resources
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2002 (Legacy)
SIC 2002 was in force from January 2002 to January 2009. It was Norway's implementation of NACE Rev 1.1.
Changes Between SIC 1994 and SIC 2002
The changes made in SIC 2002 mirror those made in the switch from NACE Rev. 1 to NACE Rev 1.1 at the international level. There were several mergers and splits of subclasses across sections necessitating the recoding of several subclasses. In all, 11 new classes and 39 new subclasses were created in SIC 2002.
Structure of SIC 2002
SIC 2002 was structured into five levels, as follows:
Section: 17 Sections identified by letters between A and Q. Two Sections were further split into a total of 16 Subsections.
Division: 60 Divisions identified by two-digit codes.
Group: 222 Groups identified by three-digit codes.
Class: 514 Classes identified by four-digit codes
Subclass: 698 Subclasses identified by five-digit codes.
Resources
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 1994 (Legacy)
SIC 1994 was in force from January 1994 to January 2002. It was Norway's implementation of NACE Rev. 1.
Structure of SIC 1994
SIC 1994 was structured into five levels, as follows:
Section: 17 Sections identified by letters between A and Q. Two Sections were further split into a total of 16 Subsections.
Division: 60 Divisions identified by two-digit codes.
Group: 222 Groups identified by three-digit codes.
Class: 503 Classes identified by four-digit codes
Subclass: 659 Subclasses identified by five-digit codes.
Resources
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) 2025 (Upcoming)
Statistics Norway (SSB) has announced that SIC 2025, based on the newly released NACE Rev. 2.1, will come into force in September 2025.
Where is it used?
The SIC is used widely across Norway's statistical ecosystem. It is the basis for classifying enterprises and establishments across various national business databases such as the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities, the Brønnøysund Register Centre, as well as Statistics Norway's Register of Establishments and Enterprises.
The SIC is used primarily by Statistics Norway (SSB) in their reporting of various national statistics and indices. For example, the SSB maintains a closely monitored "turnover index for service activities" which tracks total sales revenue within "market-oriented service industries" which are the Sections H, I, J, M, and N in Standard Industrial Classification (SIC 2007).
Researchers at Norges Bank have used SIC codes to assess credit risk in the Norwegian banking system.