What classification systems are used to aggregate Import/Export price indexes?
Import and export price indexes for goods are published using the following classification systems: • Bureau of Economic Analysis End Use System up to the five-digit level. Data are available quarterly from 1980-89 and monthly from 1989 on. • North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) up to the five-digit level. Monthly data are available from December 2005 on. • Harmonized Classification System, developed by the Customs Cooperative Council, up to the four-digit level. Monthly data are available from December 1992 on. Items are classified, respectively, by end use for the Bureau of Economic Analysis System, by industry for the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), and by product category for the Harmonized System (HS). While classification by end use and product category are self-explanatory, a couple of notes are in order for classifying items by industry. In the NAICS tables, for both imports and exports, items are classified by output industry, not input
