Available today, February 25, on its web portal, the publication National Classification of Economic Activities: Subclasses for use by the public administration - version 2.2 (CNAE Subclasses 2.2) was planned by the second edition of the National Classification of Economic Activities 2.0 (CNAE 2.0), published on February 23, 2015 (see the technical note here).

The complete publication of CNAE Subclasses 2.2 can be accessed on link https://www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/economia/classificacoes/cnae_2_2_subclasses/default.shtm.

The complete publication of the second edition of CNAE 2.0 is available on https://www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/economia/classificacoes/cnae2_0_2edicao/default.shtm.

CNAE is a key instrument to organize the information systems of the economic agents. It pursues the standardization of the way in which a number of organizations in Brazil classify the economic units according to their activities. To understand the importance of this instrument, it should be remembered that a number of classifications were used up to 1994 by IBGE and other public organizations like the Ministry of Labor, the states´ Treasury Offices, the Brazilian Federal Revenue Office and the Social Security Office, among others. A specific economic agent could be using different identification codes in a number of registries of the federal, state and municipal administrations, preventing the information matching and limiting the potential analyses.

The first version of CNAE was created in 1994. Also created in 1994, the National Classification Commission - Concla is subordinated to the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management and involves 16 ministries. IBGE holds the Presidency and the Executive Secretariat of Concla.

New version has 1,329 subclasses

CNAE-Subclasses is a classification derived from CNAE and organized into five levels - sections, divisions, groups, classes and subclasses. This classification is the same as CNAE up to the fourth digit (class). The fifth level, subclass, details the economic identification of the production units in registries of the three levels of the public administration.

The definition of the subclasses takes into account the most particularized identification of the economic activity needed by the public administration.

In force since 2010, the previous version of CNAE-Subclasses had 21 sections, 87 divisions, 285 groups, 673 classes and 1,318 subclasses. The current structure of version 2.2, approved and disclosed by Concla´s Resolution no. 1, of September 24, 2013 (http://concla.ibge.gov.br/images/concla/resolucoes_e_atas/resolucao-n1-de-24-09-2013.pdf), only changes the fifth level of the classification, keeping the same number of sections, divisions, groups and classes, and now comprising 1,329 subclasses. 20 subclasses were introduced, nine excluded and nine had their denomination changed. CNAE Subclasses 2.2 came into effect on January 1, 2015.

The second edition of CNAE 2.0 updated the Introduction chapter of the publication, so as to incorporate the changes defined by Concla´s Resolution no. 1, of July 17, 2014 (http://concla.ibge.gov.br/images/concla/resolucoes_e_atas/R_CONCLA_n_1_2014.pdf), which established a clear separation between CNAE and CNAE-Subclasses structures, among other dispositions.

CNAE had already been restructured in 2007 according to international standards, when it was updated from CNAE 1.0 to CNAE 2.0. Remember here (http://saladeimprensa.ibge.gov.br/en/noticias?view=noticia&id=1&idnoticia=1009&busca=1&t=ibge-lanca-nova-versao-classificacao-nacional-atividades-economicas).