United Nations Standard Products and Services Code

The United Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC) is one of the most widely adopted commodity classification systems in the world, providing a standardized taxonomy for categorizing products and services across procurement, e-commerce, and spend analysis. With over 158,000 items in its latest release, UNSPSC enables organizations to classify goods and services at varying levels of specificity, from broad market segments down to individual commodity types.

Background

UNSPSC originated from a Memorandum of Understanding signed in September 1998 between John S. Svendsen, director of the Inter-agency Procurement Services Office (IAPSO) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and Lawrence M. Barth, a Vice President of Dun & Bradstreet Corporation. The first version was developed under the oversight of Peter R. Benson, who designed the code management procedure as a modification of the Delphi statistical forecasting method, enabling rapid consensus development.

The Electronic Commerce Code Management Association (ECCMA), a non-profit membership association formed in 1999, managed and promoted the UNSPSC until March 2003 (version 6.0315). The UNDP then appointed GS1 US as code manager in May 2003. GS1 US managed the system until December 31, 2024, after which responsibility reverted to the UNDP for code change requests, revisions, regular updates, and managing special projects.

Purpose & Scope

UNSPSC serves several core functions:

• Procurement classification -- enabling organizations to categorize purchases consistently across departments and suppliers
• Spend analysis -- providing a common taxonomy for aggregating and analyzing procurement expenditure
• E-commerce and electronic catalogs -- supporting product classification in online marketplaces and electronic data interchange
• Market analysis -- allowing comparison of products and services across vendors and geographies

The code covers both products (tangible goods) and services, making it applicable across manufacturing, retail, government procurement, and service industries.

Structure

UNSPSC employs a four-level hierarchy coded as an eight-digit number, with an optional fifth level adding two more digits:

Each level is coded in two decimal digits, with '00' treated specially to give segments, families, and classes their own eight-digit codes. The latest release, version 26.0801 (August 2023), contains 158,448 total items. Recent additions include a new segment 57000000 for Humanitarian Relief Items, requested by the United Nations Global Marketplace.

Availability

The codeset is available in fourteen languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Hungarian. The latest PDF version is available for download at no cost with a free user account. An Excel format version is available to members, who can also request changes and suggest additions.

Governance & Maintenance

Since January 2025, the United Nations Development Programme has been responsible for overseeing code change requests, revising the codes, and issuing regularly scheduled updates, as well as managing special projects and initiatives. Updates are released periodically, with new codes added, deprecated, or reclassified based on requests and review. The standard is freely searchable, though bulk data access may require membership.

Notable Implementations

UNSPSC is used by major procurement platforms and government systems worldwide:

• United Nations Global Marketplace (UNGM) uses UNSPSC for supplier registration and procurement
• SAP Ariba and other procurement platforms support UNSPSC classification
• U.S. federal government agencies reference UNSPSC in procurement data
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture uses UNSPSC codes for Specialty Crops Inspection at U.S. borders

Related Standards

• Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) -- the European Union's classification system for public procurement
• ECLASS -- a cross-industry product data standard
• GS1 Global Product Classification -- GS1's product classification scheme
• NAICS -- classifies establishments by industry rather than products
• HS (Harmonized System) -- the international system for classifying traded goods

Further Reading

• UNSPSC Search at UNGM
• Wikipedia: UNSPSC