Standard classifications

When designing questionnaires, data producers should consider using international standard classifications.

• Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose
  (COICOP)
  

  Purpose
  To classify the purpose of individual consumption expenditures incurred by three institutional sectors, namely households, non-profit institutions serving households and general government.

  Custodian
  UNSD, Economic Statistics and Classifications Section

• International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC)
  

  Purpose
  ISIC Rev.4 is a standard classification of economic activities arranged so that entities can be classified according to the activity they carry out. The categories of ISIC at the most detailed level (classes) are delineated according to what is, in most countries, the customary combination of activities described in statistical units and considers the relative importance of the activities included in these classes. While ISIC Rev.4 continues to use criteria such as input, output and use of the products produced, more emphasis has been given to the character of the production process in defining and delineating ISIC classes.

  The groups and divisions, the successively broader levels of classification, combine the activities of producing units according to: similarities in the character of the goods and services produced, the uses to which the goods and services are put, and the inputs, process and technology of production.

  Wide use has been made of ISIC, both nationally and internationally, in classifying data according to the kind of economic activity in the fields of production, employment, gross domestic product and other statistical areas. ISIC is a basic tool for studying economic phenomena, fostering international comparability of data, providing guidance for the development of national classifications and for promoting the development of sound national statistical systems.

  In providing more up-to-date detail, this revision of the classification provides a closer representation of current economic reality. In addition, the Revision 4 of ISIC has improved comparability with other regional activity classifications in use around the world.

  Custodian
  UNSD, Economic Statistics and Classifications Section

• Activity Classification of AFRISTAT Member States (NAEMA)
  

  Purpose
  This activity classification, adopted by the seventeen member states of AFRISTAT, was intended for the collection of statistical data on economic activity.

  Custodian
  AFRISTAT

• International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88)
  

  Purpose
  (i) To facilitate international communication about the type of work carried out by persons in different jobs, both about individual jobs and in the form of statistics on jobs, their pay etc.; (ii) to serve as model for the development of national standard classifications of occupations.

  Custodian
  ILO, Bureau of Statistics

• International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-93)
  

  Purpose
  (i) To facilitate international communication about the type of economic risk and authority which persons have in different jobs, to be used for the production and presentation of statistics on jobs, their pay etc. (ii) to serve as model for the development of national standard classifications of status in employment.

  Custodian
  ILO, Bureau of Statistics

• International Standard Classification of Education 1997 (ISCED 1997)
  

  Purpose
  Designed to serve as an instrument suitable for assembling, compiling and presenting comparable indicators and statistics of education both within individual countries and internationally.

  Custodian
  UNESCO, Division of Statistics

• International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10)
  

  Purpose
  The purpose of the ICD is to permit the systematic recording, analysis, interpretation and comparison of mortality and morbidity data collected in different countries or areas and at different times.

  Custodian
  WHO, Epidemiology and Burden of Disease

• International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH)
  

  Purpose
  To classify consequences of health conditions with three categories of functioning and disablement at the body, whole person and person in social context levels - impairments, disabilities and handicaps. The ICIDH provides a framework and an international common language for the organization and compilation of disability data, the international comparison of these data, and forms the basis for assessment instruments.

  Custodian
  WHO, Epidemiology, Assessment and Classification Unit

• International Classification of Functioning and Disability (ICIDH-2)
  

  Purpose
  To classify consequences of health conditions with three classifications of functioning and disablement at the body, whole person and person in social context levels - impairments, activities and activity limitations, and participation and participation restrictions. The ICIDH also includes contextual factors -- environmental factors and personal factors - that are involved in the disablement process. The ICIDH provides a framework and an international common language for the organization and compilation of disability data, the international comparison of these data, and forms the basis for assessment instruments.

  Custodian
  WHO, Epidemiology, Assessment and Classification Unit

• International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)
  

  Purpose
  As a new member of WHO Family of International Classifications, ICF describes how people live with their health condition. ICF is a classification of health and health related domains that describe body functions and structures, activities and participation. The domains are classified from body, individual and societal perspectives. Since an individual's functioning and disability occurs in a context, ICF also includes a list of environmental factors.
  ICF is the framework for describing and measuring health states and health outcomes. It can be used in clinical settings, health services or surveys at the individual or population level. Thus ICF complements ICD-10, The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and therefore is looking beyond mortality and disease.

  Custodian
  WHO, Classifications, Assessment, Surveys and Terminology (CAS), Evidence and Information Policy

• Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use, Revision 4 (M 49, Rev.4)
  

  Purpose
  To provide standard codes and abbreviations for territorial entities (countries or areas), together with selected groupings and countries or areas, for use in processing and tabulating statistical data.
  Alpha 2 and alpha 3 codes are taken from ISO 3166 of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

  Custodian
  UNSD, General Statistics Section

• ISO 3166 country codes and names
  
  The short country names from ISO 3166-1 and the alpha-2 codes are made available by ISO at no charge for internal use and non-commercial purposes.
• ISO 639 codes for the representation of the names of languages
  

  Purpose
  ISO 639 provides two sets of language codes, one as a two-letter code set (639-1) and another as a three-letter code set (this part of ISO 639) for the representation of names of languages. ISO 639-1 was devised primarily for use in terminology, lexicography and linguistics.

  Custodian
  The US Library of Congress has been designated the ISO 639-2/RA for the purpose of processing requests for alpha-3 language codes comprising the International Standard, Codes for the representation of names of languages-- Part 2: alpha-3 code.