Standard Industrial Classification will be revised
In September 2021, Statistics Finland launched a project to revise the TOL 2008 Standard Industrial Classification. The objective is to produce a new national Standard Industrial Classification by the end of 2023. The new industrial classification will be adopted in statistics and national systems in stages starting from 2025.
Objectives of the project
The Standard Industrial Classification is central to statistics compilation: it is used in data collections of business and economic statistics and the data of the statistics are published by industry category. The Standard Industrial Classification also enables international comparisons of business and economic data by country.
The Standard Industrial Classification is also utilised in many national systems, such as systems related to taxation and insurance and in legislation.
The Standard Industrial Classification is a tool for describing the economy and society that should retain its accuracy over time. Finland's present Standard Industrial Classification was adopted in 2008. The Standard Industrial Classification is revised in order to take account of changes that have occurred in the economy, such as technological progress, the emergence of new types of economic activity, and the globalisation of enterprises.
The Finnish national Standard Industrial Classification TOL 2008 is derived from NACE, the Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community. Concerning the NACE classification an EU Regulation is always issued that binds Statistics Finland as the national statistical authority and as the producer of EU data to use the common classification. The European NACE classification is derived from the UN's ISIC, the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities. In order for the national and international classifications to be comparable, the revisions must be carried out simultaneously in the UN, Europe and Finland.