- Published: 30.04.2024.
Revision of the European classification of activities, NACE, and its national version, NKD
Current version: NKD 2007
The National Classification of Activities (NKD) is a mandatory national standard that defines activities and classifies business entities and parts thereof, and is intended to be applied in official and other administrative databases, for statistical and analytical purposes in the statistical system of the Republic of Croatia and at the international level.
NKD is a national classification of all economic activities in the Republic of Croatia, which was created at the end of 1994 on the basis of the classification version of NACE valid at that time. It was introduced into the statistical system of the Republic of Croatia by the Act on the National Classification of Activities (Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia, No. 98/94[AB1] ), and since then it has been regularly harmonised with the European standard and continuously applied in the national statistical system. NKD fully follows the structure of NACE up to the class level (four-digit numerical code). As of 1 January 2008, NKD 2007 corresponds to the classification version NACE Rev. 2.
Revision of the European classification NACE
The classification of activities needs to be adapted to the development and structural changes of the economy, measure new phenomena and enable international comparability of data, which is why the revision of the European classification NACE Rev. 2 began in 2019.
Taking into account the changes that have occurred in economic activities since the last revision in 2007, the new classification version NACE Rev. 2.1 was created at the European level. The classification was adopted by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/137 and will be applied as of 1 January 2025.
Comparing NACE Rev. 2.1 with NACE Rev. 2, it can be concluded that the new classification version is more detailed because, at the lowest level, it has a total of 651 classes or 36 classes more compared to NACE Rev. 2. Classes are grouped into 287 groups (15 categories more), groups into 87 divisions (one division less), and divisions at the highest level into 22 sections (one section more).
Further information on the revised version NACE 2.1 can be found on Eurostat website.
As of 1 January 2025, new NKD 2025
In accordance with the revised version NACE Rev. 2.1 and national needs, the Croatian Bureau of Statistics has prepared a new classification version NKD 2025. It was adopted by the Decision on the National Classification of Activities, 2025 version - NKD 2025 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia, No. 47/24), which will replace NKD 2007. The compliance of the new classification version NKD 2025 with NACE Rev. 2.1 has already been verified and approved by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Main changes in NKD 2025 in relation to NKD 2007
Since NKD 2025 is fully aligned with NACE Rev. 2.1, classification changes in NKD 2025 in relation to NKD 2007 are identical up to the fourth level, i.e. the class level. At the lowest level, the classification has 651 classes, which is 36 more than before. Classes are grouped into 287 groups, 15 more than before, 87 divisions, one less than before, and at the highest level, there are 22 sections, i.e. one more. The only specific feature of NKD 2025 in relation to NKD 2007 is the national breakdown into 687 subclasses, which means that 62 subclasses have been created for national needs.
Some of the most important changes are the following:
- Former section J (Information and communication) has been split into two new sections - section J Publishing, broadcasting, and content production and distribution activities, and section K Telecommunication, computer programming, consulting, computing infrastructure and other information service activities.
- Section G Wholesale and retail trade has been reorganised as follows: sales channels have been removed and sales according to product type have been organised. The distinction between in-store and non-store (via internet, at stalls) retail trade has been eliminated. The scope of trade includes only physical goods, but not digital ones. Division 45 Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles has been eliminated, i.e. these activities have become part of the wholesale and retail trade in division 46 and 47, while the repair of motor vehicles has become part of section T Other service activities.
- The definition of intermediation services has been introduced due to the increasing importance of intermediation service activities, and classes have been created, within almost all sections of the classification, to enable statistical monitoring of their activities in the following decade.
- Subclasses have been introduced at the national level for the purpose of monitoring and improving the national economy, for example in agriculture, industry and service activities.
- Presentation of national subclasses according to NKD 2025
A more detailed overview of the differences by sections between the new and existing classification is described in the document Differences between NKD 2007 and NKD 2025.
The new NKD 2025 and correspondence tables between NKD 2007 and NKD 2025 are available in the classification and nomenclature database KLASUS.
Explanations of the new classification version NKD 2025 will be published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics on its website in the section Classifications.