United Nations Statistics Division Do current issues require a revision of ISIC? United Nations Statistics Division EXPERT GROUP MEETING ON INTERNATIONAL STATISTICAL CLASSIFICATIONS 6-8 September 2017, New York

Monitoring of ISIC Rev.4 The Classifications Registry that is maintained by UNSD has been used as a tool to record issues with our classifications, based on questions from users Based on questions received in the Classifications Hotline These questions can take the form of simple clarifications, more complex interpretations or even proposals for changes Questions are recorded according to type, origin and include the answers provided at the time Other fora/forums are also monitored for critical issues VCF used to be important

Monitoring of ISIC Rev.4 In total, 362 issues have been recorded related to ISIC Rev.4 For a new revision, all those issues are worth considering However, Most point to issues that have been misinterpreted or where an explanation was not found by the user They may be useful for evaluating current formulations in ISIC, but do not identify actual problems Even among those items, those that require a clarification in the ISIC text are a minority

Monitoring of ISIC Rev.4 The majority of issues fall into the following categories: Interpretation difficulties due lack of knowledge/understanding of ISIC concepts or application rules Uncertainty due to misinterpretation of the ISIC text (explanatory notes) Uncertainty due to missing explicit reference to e.g. new activities, new products (but also common activities) But do not require/trigger a structural change Uncertainty due to unclear boundaries, e.g. manufacturing vs. wholesale/retail None of them are strong enough to warrant a revision/update But (some) could be considered if one takes place

Monitoring of ISIC Rev.4 More critical issues have also been identified in EG discussions and/or workshops Some of them affect ISIC concepts and the ISIC structure Not all of them have a consensus So far, none of them was considered strong enough to warrant a revision/update But would be considered if one takes place

Identified issues Some issues have been identified that point to errors or shortcomings in the ISIC explanatory notes Some have been corrected already E.g. Silk screen printing, some typos Others should be corrected if a revision/update takes place E.g. Editing of notes for divisions 05 and 86 Welding Use of “coin-operated” Cargo handling boundaries Other may need clarification E.g. “wild” growing products issue

Identified issues Another set of issues has been identified that may have structural impacts Key examples are: Treatment of factoryless goods producers Combining of all telecom industries Review of retail sales vs Internet sales Treatment of service intermediaries Sugarcane (perennial or not) Subdivision of classes for emerging industries Few examples Need verification of their actual importance No big change from issues identified at the EG 2013 meeting

Next steps There is a fair number of issues that should be addressed if a revision takes place However, so far neither one is strong enough yet to force a revision or update Considering the huge amount of resources (human and financial) that is required in a revision or update process, even the combination of these issues may not justify a revision or update ISIC Rev.4 still seems adequate to reliably describe current economic structures The EG may wish to evaluate this need and develop a timeline based on expected availability of information

Thank you