Portugal: what does INE publish for CAE Rev. 4?

Statistics Portugal, INE, publishes CAE Rev. 4, the Portuguese Classification of Economic Activities, Revision 4, as the national classification that follows the European structure. The INE portal lists CAE Rev. 4 variables for economic activity, by division and by subclass, with reference dates in 2024 and 2025 (FIXED, as listed), and an INE publication listing describes CAE Rev. 4 as establishing the mandatory common framework for the classification of economic activities to be adopted at national level.

Those two facts, the existence of CAE Rev. 4 variables in INE metadata and the description of CAE Rev. 4 as the mandatory common framework, are what was verified on INE pages for this guide. No single date on which CAE Rev. 4 took effect, and no INE timetable for recoding entries, was stated on the INE pages checked. This guide therefore states no timetable for Portugal. A reader who needs a date should check the INE publication itself, and should not rely on a date copied from a secondary summary.

What does the INE metadata show?

The INE metadata search lists variables for economic activity under CAE Rev. 4, including a variable for economic activity by division of a legal person and equivalent entity, dated 1 January 2025 (FIXED) in the listing, and variables for economic activity by subclass, dated in 2024 (FIXED). Metadata listings show that the classification exists in the INE system and that variables using it have been defined. They do not, on their own, state an in force date for the classification, a recoding procedure, or a register check route. A metadata date is the date of the variable definition, not necessarily the date on which entries changed. A reader should therefore treat the metadata as evidence that CAE Rev. 4 is published and in use in INE outputs, and should look to the INE publication on CAE Rev. 4 itself for the framework statement and for any timetable it contains. The publication listing found for this guide states the framework description and no timetable in the passage checked. That absence is reported here, rather than filled from another source.

INE material checked	What it shows	What it does not show
Metadata search listing	CAE Rev. 4 variables, by division and subclass	In force date, recoding procedure
Publication listing	CAE Rev. 4 as the mandatory common framework	Timetable, in the passage checked
European structure	22 sections, 87 divisions, 287 groups, 651 classes	Portuguese fifth level detail

The table above separates what was verified from what was not. It names no Portuguese subclass, because no subclass list was verified on an INE page fetched for this work.

How does CAE Rev. 4 relate to NACE Rev. 2.1?

CAE Rev. 4 is the Portuguese national version of the European classification. National versions build on the European structure, so that statistics collected in different member states can be compared. The EUR-Lex summary lists the 22 sections of NACE Rev. 2.1, and the European structure has 87 divisions, 287 groups and 651 classes (FIXED, as adopted). Portuguese headings follow that structure at the shared levels, and add Portuguese detail below the shared levels where INE publishes it. A reader should check the shared levels in Eurostat documents and the Portuguese detail on the INE site together. The European documents show the common backbone. The INE documents show the Portuguese headings. A reader should not assume that a Portuguese fifth level heading exists in another country, or that a heading in another country exists in Portugal. Fifth levels are national, and they differ by design.

How should a Portuguese code be checked?

A Portuguese code should be checked in three places: the INE publication and metadata for the heading, the Eurostat correspondence table for the movement between versions, and the register that holds the entry for the specific unit. The heading check uses the INE material. The movement check uses the Eurostat table. The entry check uses the register. No single register check procedure for Portugal was verified on an INE page fetched for this work, and this guide does not assert one. A reader who needs the entry for a specific unit should ask the register that holds it, stating the version beside the code, and should ask INE where the register route is unclear. A code found in a dataset should be read with its version, its reference period, and its source stated, because a bare code is ambiguous after a revision, and a code copied at one time may not be the current entry.

What does a CAE code not decide?

A CAE code does not decide any question about a specific business beyond its statistical description. It does not decide tax, social security, licensing, funding or collective agreement questions. The EUR-Lex summary states that the European legislation only applies to statistical purposes. The classification groups activities for statistics. Other bodies apply their own rules to the questions they decide. The entry for a specific unit is confirmed with INE or the register that holds the record. This site holds no register and decides no entry. A reader who needs a timetable for Portugal should check the INE publication directly, because no timetable was published on the INE pages checked on 28 October 2026, and a secondary date must not be presented as the institute’s position.

INE publishes CAE Rev. 4 as the national framework, its metadata shows the classification in use, and the timetable and register route must be checked in the INE publication itself rather than assumed from another source.