How do French statistics use NAF 2025?

French statistics use NAF 2025 as the national version of NACE Rev. 2.1, applied to European statistics according to the timetable in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/137, while the French register entry changes on its own date. The European timetable runs from 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2031 (FIXED range), depending on the statistical domain. The French register date is 1 January 2027 (FIXED), when all companies and establishments in Sirene have their APE codes modified according to NAF 2025. The two dates govern different things.

The European timetable governs when data are transmitted to Eurostat under the new version, domain by domain. The French date governs when the register entry changes. A reader who confuses them will expect register entries to change when a domain timetable changes, or expect statistics to change when the register changes. Neither expectation is correct on its own.

How does the European timetable work?

The European timetable is set by domain. Regulation (EU) 2023/137 applies generally to data transmission from 1 January 2025 (FIXED), with later dates for specified domains set out in later amendments. Eurostat states that NACE Rev. 2.1 will be used in European statistics as per the roll out schedule in the regulation, and that updated data transmission requirements have been developed from the correspondence table. For certain European business statistics, backcasting and double reporting apply, so that statistics can be presented under both versions for a period. The domain timetable therefore determines when a published French statistic moves to the new version. It does not determine when a single Sirene entry changes. That is the French register date.

Timetable	Governs	Date or range
European data transmission	Statistics sent to Eurostat, by domain	From 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2031 (FIXED range)
French register entry	APE code in Sirene	From 1 January 2027 (FIXED)
Sirene check	Prepared code visible before the register date	Before the register date, as stated in the research for this site, no closing date asserted

The table above separates the three timetables. The Sirene check row states no closing date, because none was stated on the Service Public page fetched for this guide. A reader should check Sirene for its current status.

How do French statistics handle the break?

French statistics handle the break in the same way as other European statistics: through the correspondence table, through backcasting, and through double reporting where it applies. The correspondence table shows how headings relate. Backcasting re-presents historical series under the new version. Double reporting sends statistics under both versions in parallel for a period, so that users can see the effect of the change. Eurostat states that plans for backcasting and double reporting have been established with its partners in the European Statistical System. A reader who uses a French statistic that crosses the change should look for the version stated in the publication, and for any break note or backcast series that accompanies it. A series without a version note cannot be compared across the change with confidence.

What should a reader of French datasets check?

A reader of French datasets should check the version, the reference period, and the register date separately. The version states whether the figures use NAF rev. 2 or NAF 2025. The reference period states the time the figures describe. The register date states when Sirene entries changed, which is relevant only where the dataset copies Sirene entries. A dataset can describe a period before 1 January 2027 (FIXED) using NAF 2025, through backcasting, and a dataset can describe a period after that date using NAF rev. 2, where a domain timetable runs later. The version, not the calendar date alone, governs the reading. This guide does not assert a domain by domain timetable for France, because no such timetable was verified on an INSEE or Service Public page fetched for this work. The European timetable in the regulation, as summarised by Eurostat, is the published source for domain dates.

What do French statistics not decide?

French statistics do not decide the code for any specific business, and they do not decide tax, licensing, funding or collective agreement questions. They describe the economy in aggregate, grouped by the classification. The entry for a specific unit is in Sirene, and INSEE confirms it. An aggregate and an entry are different uses of the same classification, so an aggregate figure should not be treated as evidence about a single unit, and a single entry should not be treated as evidence about an aggregate. The classification serves both uses. It decides neither use on its own.

The register changes in France from 1 January 2027 (FIXED), European statistics move domain by domain to 1 January 2031 (FIXED), and the version stated in each publication shows which timetable a given figure follows. ”