When does NACE Rev. 2.1 apply to data transmission?

NACE Rev. 2.1 applies to data transmission incrementally, by statistical domain, from 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2031 (FIXED range). The EUR-Lex summary states that range in those terms, with the words incrementally and depending on the statistical domain doing the work. There is no single date on which every statistic moves to the new version. 2. A reader must therefore check the domain, not only the version name, before reading a series.

How do entry into force, use, and data transmission differ?

Three dates are often confused, and the sources keep them apart. The delegated regulation entered into force on 9 February 2023 (FIXED). Eurostat states that the version is to be used for European statistics from 2025 (FIXED) onwards, and the Central Statistics Office in Ireland states that it will begin to be used for the production of European statistics from 1 January 2025 (FIXED). Data transmission, which is the sending of data by countries to Eurostat under sectoral legislation, is staggered across the range from 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2031 (FIXED range). Entry into force makes the instrument legally effective. Use for statistics states the reference period from which the new version is the version for European statistics. Data transmission states when each domain must send data on the new basis.

The distinction matters for reading published statistics. A statistic with a reference period in 2024 (FIXED) will generally be on NACE Rev. 2, even if it is published after the new version entered into force. A statistic with a reference period in 2025 (FIXED) may be on either version, depending on the domain and on whether double reporting applies. Double reporting, as described on the Eurostat overview page, means tabulating data by NACE Rev. 2 and NACE Rev. 2.1 in parallel. Where double reporting is in place, the same reference period can appear under both versions, and the version label on the table, not the publication date, decides which classification was used.

Step	Date stated in the sources
Delegated regulation enters into force	9 February 2023 (FIXED)
Use for European statistics	From 2025 (FIXED) onwards
Data transmission, by domain	From 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2031 (FIXED range)
Earlier version for European statistics	Period 2008 to 2024 (FIXED range)

Why is the timetable staggered by domain?

The timetable is staggered because data transmission requirements are set in sectoral legislation, domain by domain. The Eurostat overview page states that Eurostat and its partners prepared the roll out by updating sectoral legislation to indicate how European Union countries must transfer data to Eurostat according to NACE Rev. 2.1. Each domain has its own legislation, its own collection system, and its own production timetable. Updating all domains on one date would require every collection system to change at once, and the sources describe a different approach: incremental application, domain by domain, across the fixed range.

The manual records the same logic in the review history. The update was designed to maintain comparability over time while integrating new concepts, and the manual states that any update with structural changes leads to breaks in time series. Backcasting plans and double reporting plans, listed on the overview page, are the tools for managing those breaks. Backcasting means preparing earlier series on the new basis, so that a longer run can be read consistently. Double reporting means publishing the same period on both bases for a time, so that users can see the effect of the change. Both tools are statistical production tools, and neither changes the legal effect of a code.

How is one domain checked?

One domain is checked in the sectoral legislation for that domain, and in the Eurostat guidance for the transition. The EUR-Lex summary gives the overall range, but it does not list the date for each domain. This guide does not list domain dates, because a list copied without the sectoral instrument for each domain would be unverified. A reader who needs the date for a domain must find the instrument that sets the data transmission requirement for that domain, check the NACE version it cites, and check the application date it sets. The Eurostat overview page points to a description of the transition to NACE Rev. 2.1, which gives further details on the roll out, and that description is the next place to look after the summary.

A national institute may also publish its own implementation timetable for its statistical outputs. The Irish example shows the pattern: gradual implementation across outputs, according to the timelines set out in European Union regulations, beginning with specified outputs. A national timetable describes when that institute publishes on the new version. It does not change the European range, and it must not be read as the date for every domain or every country.

What does the timetable not decide?

The timetable does not decide when a register changes an entry, and it does not decide a new code for a business. A register recoding timetable is a separate administrative timetable, set by the institute or register concerned. A statistical domain timetable governs the transmission of statistics. The two may move at different speeds, and a reader must not assume that a statistic on the new version means that every register entry has been recoded, or that a recoded register entry means that every statistic has moved. Each timetable must be checked in its own source, and an entry must be confirmed with the institute or register that holds it.

Check the EUR-Lex summary for the overall range, check the sectoral instrument for one domain, and confirm any entry with the institute or register that holds it.