CNAE: Clasificación Nacional de Actividades Económicas - New National Classification of Economic Activities, Spain

Clasificación Nacional de Actividades Económicas (CNAE) is Spain's official classification system for categorizing economic activities. It is maintained by Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) and aligned with the European Union's NACE. The CNAE is structured hierarchically with four levels of aggregation ranging from broad economic sections to more specific industrial classes. The CNAE is used across public agencies and private firms for a range of purposes.

Metadata

Publisher type National
Publisher(s)
Jurisdictions Spain

Current Version: CNAE-2009

CNAE-2009 took effect in Spain on 1 January 2009. It is Spain's adaptation of the European Union's NACE Rev. 2.

Changes between CNAE-1993 Rev 1 and CNAE-2009

CNAE-2009 was a major revision of CNAE-1993 in line with the changes between NACE NACE Rev. 1 and NACE Rev. 2. The sub-class level was dropped in CNAE-2009 leaving the class level as the most granular categorization. Four new sections were added in CNAE-2009 along with more categories covering emerging activities in information and communication technology (ICT) and business services as well as software development, biotechnology, and renewable energy.

Structure of CNAE-2009

CNAE-2009 is hierarchically structured into four levels, as follows:

  • Sections: 21 sections identified by the English alphabets A to U. This is the broadest level in NACE Rev. 2.

  • Divisions: 88 divisions identified by two-digit codes.

  • Groups: 272 groups identified by three-digit codes.

  • Classes: 629 classes identified by four-digit codes. This is the finest level of detail in CNAE-2009.

The table below shows the composition of the 21 sections of CNAE-2009. The section C (Manufacturing) has the most class-level detail with 233 classes making up about 37% of the 629 classes in CNAE-2009.

Section

Title

Divisions

Groups

Classes

A

Agriculture, forestry and fishing

3

13

39

B

Mining and quarrying

5

10

15

C

Manufacturing

24

95

233

D

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

1

3

12

E

Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities

4

6

9

F

Construction

3

9

23

G

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

3

21

91

H

Transportation and storage

5

15

23

I

Accommodation and food service activities

2

7

8

J

Information and communication

6

13

28

K

Financial and insurance activities

3

10

18

L

Real estate activities

1

3

4

M

Professional, scientific and technical activities

7

15

19

N

Administrative and support service activities

6

19

33

O

Public administration and defence; compulsory social security

1

3

9

P

Education

1

6

12

Q

Human health and social work activities

3

9

14

R

Arts, entertainment and recreation

4

5

16

S

Other service activities

3

6

19

T

Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use

2

3

3

U

Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies

1

1

1

Total

88

272

629

Previous versions

CNAE-1993 Rev. 1

CNAE-1993 Rev. 1 operated in Spain from 2002 till 2009. It was the Spanish adaptation of NACE Rev 1.1.

Changes between CNAE-93 and CNAE-93 Rev. 1

CNAE-93 Rev. 1 was a minor update to CNAE-93 following the update of NACE Rev. 1 to Nace Rev. 1.1. A notable change in CNAE-91 Rev. 1 was the dropping of the 16 sub-sections in CNAE-93. Several category titles were also updated in line with emerging activities at the time.

Structure of CNAE-93 Rev. 1

CNAE-93 Rev. 1 was structured into five levels, as follows:

  • Sections: 17 sections identified by the English letters A to Q.

  • Divisions: 60 divisions identified by two-digit codes.

  • Groups: 222 groups identified by three-digit codes.

  • Classes: 512 classes identified by four-digit codes.

  • Sub-classes: 766 sub-classes identified by five-digit codes. This was the finest level of detail in CNAE-93 Rev. 1.

CNAE-93

CNAE-93 was in effect in Spain from 1993 till 2002. It was Spain's version of NACE Rev. 1.

Changes between CNAE-74 and CNAE-93

The transition from CNAE-74 to CNAE-93 in Spain was a significant update designed to align more closely with international standards, particularly the EU's NACE Rev.1 system. CNAE-93 introduced a more detailed structure and revised categories to reflect the evolving economy, particularly in the services and technology sectors, which were not adequately covered in CNAE-74. CNAE-93 increased the number of classification levels to five and began to use an alphabetic coding system for the broadest level in place of the numeric coding in CNAE-74.

Structure of CNAE-93

CNAE-93 was structured into five levels, as follows:

  • Sections: 17 sections identified by the English letters A to Q. Two sections were further divided into a total of 16 sub-sections denoted by two letters.

  • Divisions: 60 divisions identified by two-digit codes.

  • Groups: 222 groups identified by three-digit codes.

  • Classes: 503 classes identified by four-digit codes.

  • Sub-classes: 764 sub-classes identified by five-digit codes. This was the finest level of detail in CNAE-93.

CNAE-74

CNAE-74 was in effect in Spain from 1974 to 1992. Based in the United Nation's ISIC Rev. 2, CNAE-74 was Spain's first standardized industrial classification system.

Structure of CNAE-74

CNAE-74 was structured into four levels, as follows:

  • First level: 10 industries represented by one-digit numeric codes.

  • Second level: 59 industries identified by two-digit codes.

  • Third level: 283 industries identified by three-digit codes.

  • Fourth level: 309 industries identified by four-digit codes.

Where is it used?

  • National Statistics: Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, INE) uses the CNAE to group businesses and economic activities, reporting several national economic indicators and indices according to the CNAE boundaries. Among other government agencies, Spain's national tax office (Agencia Tributaria) also uses the CNAE in its activities with tax obligations varying according to CNAE code.

  • Private use: Private firms can use CNAE codes to conduct market and industrial analysis as part of the investment process.

  • Academic Research: CNAE codes have been used to map industrial clusters and to analyze industrial accidents in Spain.

Upcoming version

Following the release of NACE Rev. 2.1 in 2023, CNAE-09 has been duly updated and the INE has announced that CNAE-2025 is expected to come into effect in January 2025. There will be a transition period for its implementation across government agencies. In the new classification which maintains the four-level structure of the previous version, modifications will be made in the culture and technology-related sectors.

Further resources

Download CNAE

Other resources