In 2006, Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council introduced the currently used Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Union, NACE Revision 2 (hereinafter “NACE Rev. 2”), which reflected the statistical requirements at the time of its adoption.

In October 2022, the European Commission adopted Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/137 amending Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the statistical classification of economic activities NACE Revision 2. The annex to this delegated regulation contains the updated classification referred to as NACE Rev. 2.1 (hereinafter “NACE Rev. 2.1”).

The main objective of the revision is to ensure reliable and comparable statistics, which economic operators require in order to assess their competitiveness, and which Union institutions need when adopting measures to prevent distortions of competition. International comparability of economic statistics necessitates the use of classifications that are directly aligned with the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC).

The delegated regulation was subsequently amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/471 concerning the application of certain data transmission requirements. Within the European Union, the use of the updated NACE Rev. 2.1 will be mandatory for statistical data for the reference year 2025 and beyond, depending on the specific statistical domain.

The implementation of NACE Rev. 2.1 across statistical domains will follow a gradual approach. This method, adopted by Eurostat, differs from the last revision of NACE in 2008, when implementation occurred simultaneously across all statistical domains. Under the adopted Eurostat strategy, NACE Rev. 2.1 must therefore be introduced as a priority into the statistical business registers by 31 December 2025 at the latest. Due to the phased transition to the updated classification, both versions-NACE Rev. 2 and NACE Rev. 2.1-will be maintained in parallel in the Statistical Register of Organisations until 31 December 2028.

As the administrator of the reference Register of Legal Persons, Entrepreneurs and Public Authorities (RPO), the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic will publish exclusively NACE Rev. 2.1 codes in this register as of 1 January 2026.

Despite the gradual implementation of NACE Rev. 2.1 across individual statistical domains, the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic remains committed to ensuring the continuity of statistical outputs, particularly cross-sectional statistics, given their importance for users in assessing developments on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.

For this reason, the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic will publish national statistical outputs in calendar years 2026 and 2027 according to NACE Rev. 2. The transition to the updated NACE Rev. 2.1 at the national level will take place in 2028. Consequently, reporting units included in statistical surveys conducted by the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic will continue to be addressed in 2026 and 2027 according to NACE Rev. 2.