The North American Industry Classification System or NAICS is a classification of business establishments by type of economic activity. It is used by government and business in Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America.
It was adopted in 1997 to replace the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system in cooperation with the statistical agencies of Canada and Mexico. Their goal was to establish a North American standard. They developed the NAICS as the first economic classification system based on a single economic concept.