Nomenclature generale des Activites economiques dans les Communautes europeennes (NACE) refers to the industrial classification as defined in Revision 1 which is used by Eurostat.
Between 1961 and 1963 the Classification of industries established in the European Communities was developed and became known by its acronym Nice. In 1965 the classification of trade and commerce in the European Communities was compiled to cover all commercial activities known as NCE. In 1967 a classification for services was compiled followed by one for agriculture. In 1970 the General Industrial Classification of Economic Activities within the European Communities was compiled and known as NACE, later as NACE 70 or NACE 1970.
NACE Rev. 1 replaced NACE 1970. In so doing it established a direct link between the European classification and the internationally recognised ISIC Rev. 3 developed under the auspices of the United Nations. These two classifications are directly compatible at the 2-digit level and more detailed levels of ISIC Rev. 3 can be calculated by aggregating the more detailed levels from NACE Rev. 1.