NACE-BEL: Economic Activity Classification, Belgium
Belgium's Economic Activity Classification (NACE-BEL) is the official system for classifying business establishments in Belgium. NACE-BEL, produced and maintained by the Belgium's national statistical office (Statbel), was first published in 1993 and has undergone four updates, most recently in 2025. NACE-BEL, which is based on the European Union's NACE, is structured into five levels, from broad Sections at the highest level to more granular Sub-classes at the bottom reflecting Belgium's industrial landscape. NACE-BEL is used extensively in Belgium's public and private sector.
Metadata
| Publisher type | National |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Jurisdictions | Belgium |
Versions
NACE-BEL 2025 (Current)
NACE-BEL 2025 has been in force since 1 January 2025. NACE-BEL is identical to the EU's NACE up to the class (four-digit) level.
Changes Between NACE-BEL 2025 and NACE-BEL 2008
The changes between NACE-BEL 2008 and NACE-BEL 2025 from the first to the fourth level of the system reflect the changes between NACE Rev. 2 and NACE Rev. 2.1. NACE-BEL 2008 has been extensively revised in NACE-BEL 2025 with several industries reorganized by way of mergers or separation into distinct categories. In all but the second level of the system, there was an expansion of detail as several new activities were created across NACE-BEL 2025 reflecting industrial developments in the 17 years since the release of NACE-BEL 2008.
Structure of NACE-BEL 2025
NACE-BEL 2025 is structured into five levels, as follows:
Section: 22 Sections identified by letters A-V.
Division: 87 Divisions identified by two-digit numerical codes (01-99).
Group: 287 Groups identified by three-digit numerical codes (01.1-99.0).
Class: 651 Classes identified by four-digit numerical codes (01.11-99.00).
Subclass: 977 Subclasses identified by five-digit numerical codes (01.111-99.000).
The table below shows the number of industries in the sub-categories of each Section of NACE-BEL 2025. The Sections C (Manufacturing), G (Wholesale and retail trade), and R (Human health and social work) have the highest number of industries at the subclass level with 264, 174, and 64 subclasses respectively.
Section ID | Section Title | Divisions | Groups | Classes | Sub-classes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | Agriculture, fishing and forestry | 3 | 14 | 39 | 44 |
B | Mining and quarrying | 5 | 10 | 15 | 18 |
C | Manufacturing | 24 | 92 | 232 | 264 |
D | Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply | 1 | 4 | 12 | 12 |
E | Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities | 4 | 6 | 11 | 11 |
F | Construction | 3 | 11 | 26 | 42 |
G | Wholesale and retail trade | 2 | 18 | 83 | 174 |
H | Transportation and storage | 5 | 17 | 30 | 31 |
I | Accommodation and food service activities | 2 | 9 | 11 | 18 |
J | Publishing, broadcasting and content production and distribution activities | 3 | 7 | 15 | 21 |
K | Telecommunication, computer programming, consulting, computing infrastructure and other information service activities | 3 | 8 | 9 | 9 |
L | Financial and insurance activities | 3 | 10 | 20 | 29 |
M | Real estate activities | 1 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
N | Professional, scientific and technical activities | 7 | 16 | 22 | 39 |
O | Administrative and support service activities | 6 | 18 | 32 | 43 |
P | Public administration and defense; compulsory social security | 1 | 3 | 9 | 20 |
Q | Education | 1 | 6 | 12 | 42 |
R | Human health and social work activities | 3 | 9 | 20 | 64 |
S | Arts, sports and recreation | 4 | 10 | 20 | 39 |
T | Other service activities | 3 | 12 | 24 | 42 |
U | Activities of households as employers, and undifferentiated goods and service-producing activities of households for own use | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
V | Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Total | 87 | 287 | 651 | 977 |
The subclasses of NACE-BEL 2025 are meant to provide more specific industries for the Belgian context. Out of the 977 subclasses in NACE-BEL 2025, 459 provide further differentiation from their parent class in terms of distinctly named industries. For example, the class 56.11 (Restaurant activities) is detailed into two subclasses which are 56.111 (Activities of full-service restaurants) and 56.112 (Activities of limited-service restaurants, except mobile food service activities). In some other cases, classes are broken into more than two subclasses as is the case with the class 46.83 (Wholesale of wood, construction materials and sanitary equipment) which is split into seven subclasses which are 46.831 (Wholesale of construction materials, general selection), 46.832 (Wholesale of wood), 46.833 (Wholesale of wallpaper, paint and furnishing fabrics), 46.834 (Wholesale of flat grass), 46.835 (Wholesale of tiles), 46.836 (Wholesale of sanitary equipment), and 46.839 (Wholesale of other construction materials). On the other hand, 518 out of the 977 subclasses in NACE-BEL 2025 do not provide further differentiation from their parent class in terms of distinctly named industries. For example, the class 10.32 (Manufacture of fruit and vegetable juice) which has only the subclass 10.320 (Manufacture of fruit and vegetable juice) and the class 79.11 (Travel agency activities) which has only the subclass 79.110 (Travel agency activities).
Resources
NACE-BEL 2008 (Legacy)
NACE-BEL 2008 was in force from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2024. It is identical to the EU's NACE Rev. 2 up to the class (four-digit) level.
Changes Between NACE-BEL 2003 and NACE-BEL 2008
Because NACE-BEL is based entirely on NACE, the changes between NACE-BEL 2003 and NACE-BEL 2008 mirror the changes between NACE Rev 1.1 and NACE Rev. 2, particularly at the first four levels of the system. While there were updates to certain classification rules, the structure of the system was maintained as far as possible particularly in areas that did not require changes due to the introduction of new classification rules. At the highest level of the system, four new sections were established in NACE-BEL 2008 with their components originating from different other sections in NACE-BEL 2003. This led to a loss of comparability between the sections across the two versions. A new agricultural sector with more detailed industries was created in section A (Agriculture, forestry and fishing) by combining the NACE-BEL 2003 sections A (Agriculture, hunting and forestry) and B (Fishing). Other new sections in NACE-BEL 2008 are section E (Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities) and J (Information and communication) respectively reflecting the emergence of activities related to recycling and information technology. At the finest level of the system, there was also a substantial increase in detail, from 800 subclasses in NACE-BEL 2003 to 943 subclasses in NACE-BEL 2008. The addition of new and reorganized sections also led to the recoding of most items across the system.
Structure of NACE-BEL 2008
NACE-BEL 2008 is structured into five levels, as follows:
Section: 21 Sections identified by letters A-U.
Division: 88 Divisions identified by two-digit numerical codes (01-99).
Group: 272 Groups identified by three-digit numerical codes (01.1-99.0).
Class: 615 Classes identified by four-digit numerical codes (01.11-99.00).
Subclass: 943 Subclasses identified by five-digit numerical codes (01.110-99.000).
Resources
NACE-BEL 2003 (Legacy)
NACE-BEL 2003 was in force from 2003 to 2008. It is identical to the EU's NACE Rev. 1.1 up to the class (four-digit) level.
Changes Between NACE-BEL 1993 and NACE-BEL 2003
The changes between NACE-BEL 1993 and NACE-BEL 2003 reflect the changes in the international standard, from NACE Rev. 1 to NACE Rev. 1.1. The structure of NACE-BEL 1993 was mostly maintained in NACE-BEL 2003. Most of the changes focused on updating and clarifying the description of industries bringing them in line with the nature of the Belgian economy in the early 2000s.
Structure of NACE-BEL 2003
NACE-BEL 2003 is structured into five levels, as follows:
Section: 17 Sections identified by letters A-Q. Two sections are further divided into a total of 31 Sub-sections identified by two letters.
Division: 62 Divisions identified by two-digit numerical codes (01-99).
Group: 224 Groups identified by three-digit numerical codes (01.1-99.0).
Class: 514 Classes identified by four-digit numerical codes (01.11-99.00).
Subclass: 800 Subclasses identified by five-digit numerical codes (01.110-99.000).
Resources
NACE-BEL 1993 (Legacy)
NACE-BEL 1993 was in force from 1993 to 2003 and was the first edition of NACE-BEL. It is identical to NACE Rev. 1 up to the Group (three-digit) level.
Structure of NACE-BEL 1993
NACE-BEL 1993 is structured into five levels, as follows:
Section: 17 Sections identified by letters A-Q. Two sections are further divided into a total of 31 Sub-sections identified by two letters.
Division: 60 Divisions identified by two-digit numerical codes (01-99).
Group: 222 Groups identified by three-digit numerical codes (01.1-99.0).
Class: 504 Classes identified by four-digit numerical codes (01.11-99.00).
Subclass: 793 Subclasses identified by five-digit numerical codes (01.110-99.000).
Classifications Prior to NACE-BEL 1993
Before the start of the NACE-BEL series, industrial classification in Belgium was based on NACE'70 published under the title Synthesis of groups, classes and divisions of the NACE nomenclature.
Resources
Where is it used?
The Belgian statistical office (Statbel) is the primary user of the NACE-BEL system. NACE-BEL codes are the basis of statistics and indices related to industrial production and other aspects of the economy. NACE-BEL codes are also included in national business registers such as the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises (BCE/KBO) and other administrative databases.
Other public agencies in Belgium also use NACE-BEL codes for different administrative and analytical purposes. Belgium's National Accounts complied by the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) notably relies on NACE-BEL codes which also feature extensively in the NBBs analytical publications.
NACE-BEL codes are widely used in the administration of government programs including grants and subsidies. For example, a training subsidy covering 40-80% of eligible costs is open to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Brussels registered under certain NACE-BEL codes.
In the private sector, NACE-BEL codes are included in large corporate databases on Belgian companies such as Bel-First available from Moody's. Corporate databases like Bel-First are commonly used in different forms of market research and investment analysis.
NACE-BEL codes also feature heavily in Belgium-focused academic research across disciplines. For example, the Bel-First corporate database mentioned above has been used to examine the effect of smart city initiatives on "green entrepreneurship" defined as new firms with NACE-BEL codes containing "green terms" in their description.