What is NAF 2025?

NAF 2025 is the new French nomenclature of activities, the national version of the European classification that France uses to assign APE codes. Service Public states that one new version, NAF 2025, is being deployed, and that from 1 January 2027 (FIXED) all companies and establishments will have their APE codes modified according to the new NAF 2025. NAF 2025 replaces NAF rev. 2 as the reference for APE codes. The APE code identifies the main activity exercised by a company or establishment, as assigned by INSEE for statistical purposes. NAF 2025 is a statistical nomenclature.

It does not, on its own, create rights or obligations for the units concerned, and it does not decide tax, licensing, funding or collective agreement questions.

How does NAF 2025 relate to NACE Rev. 2.1?

NAF is the French nomenclature of activities. NACE Rev. 2.1 is the European classification set by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/137 of 10 October 2022 (FIXED), which entered into force on 9 February 2023 (FIXED). National nomenclatures build on the European structure, so that statistics collected in different member states can be compared. The EUR-Lex summary states that the legislation only applies to the use of the classification for statistical purposes, and that it does not oblige member states to collect, publish or supply data. France applies that European structure through NAF, and INSEE is the institute that publishes the nomenclature. A reader should therefore check the European structure in Eurostat documents and the French structure on the INSEE website together. The European documents show the common backbone. The INSEE documents show the French headings, titles and codes.

Level	NACE Rev. 2.1 identifier	French use
Section	One letter	Broad area, shown in the NAF structure
Division	Two digits	Narrower field inside a section
Group	Three digits	Narrower field inside a division
Class and APE	Four digits plus one letter for APE	Most detailed level, APE code as assigned by INSEE

The table above shows the shared level structure. The APE format, four digits plus one letter, is stated by Service Public. French class titles and codes must be read on the INSEE website. This guide does not list them, because a list copied from a secondary summary could misstate a heading.

What changes on the register date?

From 1 January 2027 (FIXED), all companies and establishments listed in the Sirene directory will have a new APE code under NAF 2025, according to Service Public. The change is presented as a modification of the code assigned, following the new nomenclature. It is not presented as a new registration. The Sirene directory is the register that holds the record, and INSEE is the institute that assigns the code. A reader should therefore expect the code shown for a company or establishment in Sirene to change at that date, and should check the new code rather than assuming the old code continues. The date is the register date for France. It is separate from the European timetable for data transmission, which runs from 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2031 (FIXED range) depending on the statistical domain. The two timetables answer different questions: one governs the French register entry, the other governs European statistics.

What does NAF 2025 not do?

NAF 2025 does not determine the correct code for any reader, and it does not decide any question that belongs to another authority. The INSEE nomenclature pages state that the purpose of the nomenclatures is essentially statistical, and that legal or institutional criteria are set aside in their construction. The APE code is an indicator of the main activity exercised, as recorded for statistics. It does not by itself grant a licence, set a tax rate, decide employment status, or decide eligibility for funding or a collective agreement. Readers sometimes treat the APE code as if it decided those matters, because other bodies use the code in their own processes. That use by other bodies does not change the statistical character of the classification, and it does not make this guide a determination of any reader’s code.

Where is NAF 2025 checked?

The French nomenclature can be consulted on the INSEE website, as Service Public states. The entry for a specific company or establishment is checked in Sirene, using the SIREN number, as described in the Sirene check guides in this cluster. The meaning of a heading is in the NAF structure and notes published by INSEE. The movement between versions is shown in the correspondence material that INSEE publishes for the change. The entry itself is confirmed with INSEE or through Sirene, the register that holds the record. This site holds no register and decides no entry.

NAF 2025 is the French nomenclature that becomes the APE reference from 1 January 2027 (FIXED), its structure follows the European backbone, and Sirene is where each new APE code is shown and checked. ”