ISAT: Íslensk Atvinnugreinaflokkun, Iceland
Íslensk atvinnugreinaflokkun (ISAT) is the official framework for classifying businesses in Iceland. ISAT, maintained by Statistics Iceland, was first adopted in 1995 and has been revised once since then. ISAT, which is based on the European Union's NACE, is structured into five classification levels, which range from broad industrial categories at the first level to finer 5-digit industries at the fifth level reflecting the specificities of Iceland's industrial landscape. ISAT is widely used in Iceland across the public and private sectors.
Metadata
| Publisher type | National |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Jurisdictions | Iceland |
Versions
ISAT 2008 (Current)
ISAT 2008 has been in force in Iceland since 1 January 2008. It is Iceland's implementation of the European Union's NACE.
Changes Between ISAT 1995 and ISAT 2008
ISAT 2008 is a major update of ISAT 1995, with numerous changes across the hierarchy in line with NACE Rev. 2.1. There were major changes at the section level with the creation of four new sections and the reconstitution of others thereby reducing the comparability of sections between the two versions. Some new sections in ISAT 2008 brought together activities from different sections in ISAT 1995. For example, some components of Section O (Other Community Services, Associations, Cultural Activities, etc.) of ISAT 1995 were moved to the newly created Sections E (Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation) and J (Information and communications) while others were moved to the other new sections R (Cultural, sports and leisure activities) and S (Other service activities). At the other end of the hierarchy the number of 5-digit industries increased from 622 in ISAT 1995 to 664 in ISAT 2008 providing a richer description of Iceland's industrial structure.
Structure of ISAT 2008
ISAT 2008 is structured into five levels, as follows:
Section (Bálkur): 21 Sections identified by letters between A and U.
2-digit level: 88 industries identified by 2-digit codes.
3-digit level: 272 industries identified by 3-digit codes.
4-digit level: 616 industries identified by 4-digit codes.
5-digit level: 664 industries identified by 5-digit codes.
The table below shows the number of industries by classification level in all 21 sections of ISAT 2008.
Section | Title | 2-digit level | 3-digit level | 4-digit level | 5-digit level |
A | Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 3 | 13 | 39 | 48 |
B | Mining and quarrying | 5 | 10 | 15 | 15 |
C | Manufacturing | 24 | 95 | 230 | 235 |
D | Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 1 | 3 | 8 | 8 |
E | Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 4 | 6 | 9 | 9 |
F | Construction | 3 | 9 | 22 | 23 |
G | Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 3 | 21 | 91 | 111 |
H | Transportation and storage | 5 | 15 | 23 | 26 |
I | Accommodation and food service activities | 2 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
J | Information and communication | 6 | 13 | 26 | 26 |
K | Financial and insurance activities | 3 | 10 | 18 | 18 |
L | Real estate activities | 1 | 3 | 4 | 6 |
M | Professional, scientific and technical activities | 7 | 15 | 19 | 20 |
N | Administrative and support service activities | 6 | 19 | 33 | 33 |
O | Public administration and defence; compulsory social security | 1 | 3 | 9 | 9 |
P | Education | 1 | 6 | 11 | 11 |
Q | Human health and social work activities | 3 | 9 | 12 | 17 |
R | Arts, entertainment and recreation | 4 | 5 | 15 | 15 |
S | Other service activities | 3 | 6 | 19 | 21 |
T | Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
U | Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
X | Unknown Activities | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Total | 88 | 272 | 615 | 665 |
Resources
ISAT 1995 (Legacy)
ISAT 1995 was in force in Iceland from 1995 to 2007. It was based on NACE Rev. 1.
Changes Between the Industrial Classification of 1970 and ISAT 1995
ISAT 1995 introduced an alphanumeric coding format and increased the number of classification levels from three to five. This change in structure therefore necessitated extensive changes across the system. The most detailed level the classification system rose from 190 (3-digit) industries in the previous system to 623 (5-digit) industries in ISAT 1995.
Structure of ISAT 1995
ISAT 1995 was structured into five levels, as follows:
Section (Bálkur): 17 Sections identified by letters between A and Q.
2-digit level: 62 industries identified by 2-digit codes.
3-digit level: 223 industries identified by 3-digit codes.
4-digit level: 495 industries identified by 4-digit codes.
5-digit level: 623 industries identified by 5-digit codes.
Resources
Industrial Classification of 1970 (Atvinnuvegaflokkun Hagstofunnar) (Legacy)
Prior to the introduction of ISAT in 1995, an industrial classification system for Iceland based on the United Nation's ISIC Rev. 1 was released in 1970.
Structure of the Industrial Classification of 1970
1-digit level: 9 industries identified by 1-digit codes.
2-digit level: 28 industries identified by 2-digit codes.
3-digit level: 175 industries identified by 3-digit codes.
Resources
(Upcoming)
With the emergence of NACE Rev 2.1, a new version of ISAT might soon be available. However, Statistics Iceland has not made any public announcement in that regard.
Where is it used
Statistics Iceland is the principal user of ISAT in its reporting of national economic data and indices. Other public agencies in Iceland also use ISAT for a wide range of purposes.
Eligibility for some government programs in Iceland is based on ISAT code. For example, a program to improve the competitiveness of rural enterprises applies to enterprises operating in categories 01.1 and 01.2 both in Section A (Agriculture, forestry and fishing) of ISAT 2008.
In the private sector, businesses and analysts can also use ISAT codes for market and industry research, to inform investment decisions.