The North American Product Classification System (NAPCS) is a comprehensive, market- or demand-based, hierarchical classification system for products (goods and services) that (a) is not industry-of-origin based but can be linked to the NAICS industry structure, (b) is consistent across the three North American countries, and (c) promotes improvements in the identification and classification of service products across international classification systems, such as the Central Product Classification System of the United Nations. For more information, see the discussion paper, "Overview of NAPCS Objectives, Guidance, and Implementation Strategy and Goals: A United States Perspective." The three countries agreed that the objectives and principles articulated in sections A through C of that paper define the purposes of NAPCS and the operational guidelines for creating it.
Additional information on NAPCS is available at: https://www.census.gov/eos/www/napcs/index.html
NAPCS-based products were collected and published in the 2017 Economic Census. While the product codes used in the 2012 and earlier Economic Censuses are quite different from 2017, the structure is quite similar.
The first digit of the NAPCS-based product relates to the NAICS sector the product is primarily associated with.
NAPCS-Based Product Codes Starting With |
Associated NAICS Sector |
1 |
Mining |
2 |
Manufacturing |
3 |
Construction |
4 |
Wholesale Trade |
5 |
Retail Trade |
6 |
Utilities and Waste Management |
7 |
Services |
8 |
Non-Operating or Tax Exempt |
9 |
Other |
Example:
7003825000: Services Broad Line for “Room or unit accommodation for travelers”
7003825003: Services Detail Line for “Room or unit accommodation for travelers, with maid service”
The geographies published for each NAPCS-based product vary by NAICS sector:
Roughly 80% of the 2017 NAPCS-based products map directly to a single 2012 legacy product. Concordances between these product codes are available at: