What Happened to Rev. 4 Groups 478 and 479 in Rev. 5?

In ISIC Rev. 5, published by the UN Statistics Division, the Rev. 4 retail groups for trade outside stores, including stalls, markets, and non store retail, were not carried forward in the same form. Retail trade was reorganised around the kind of retail activity rather than the older store versus non store split, and the online versus in store distinction was removed at the same time. Readers tracing an old code should therefore not look for a one to one replacement.

What Did Groups 478 and 479 Cover in Rev. 4?

Group 478 covered retail via stalls and markets in Rev. 4. Group 479 covered other non store retail in Rev. 4, including forms of selling that did not fit the stall and market pattern. Together, those two groups gathered retail that happened outside a conventional shop, under a store versus non store logic. A market trader, a stallholder, and a seller working without a shop in the usual sense could all be found in that corner of the old structure, even though their daily work varied widely.

How Does Retail Type Replace the Store Versus Non Store Split?

Under Rev. 5, the question shifts from where selling happens to what kind of retail work it is. A market stall and a mail order seller may now sit in different places, because the structure follows retail type rather than the absence of a shop. One sells face to face from a pitch, with stock on display and customers browsing in person. The other takes orders at a distance and dispatches goods, with a different rhythm of ordering, packing, and delivery. Both sell to final customers, and both are retail, but their detailed headings diverge because their retail work diverges.

A trader selling vegetables from a market stall illustrates the point in concrete terms. The activity is still retail sale to final customers, with fresh produce displayed, weighed or counted, and handed over in person. In Rev. 5, the heading for that trader is found by retail type, not by copying the old group number forward. Copying 478 forward as if it had a single new equivalent would be a shortcut that Rev. 5 no longer supports, because the old group has been dispersed across reorganised retail headings.

What Mistakes Do Readers Make When Tracing 478 and 479?

The most common mistake is assuming a neat one to one replacement. A reader finds an old code in Group 478 or 479, looks for a single new class with a similar title, and treats that class as the answer. Rev. 5 does not work that way for these groups. An old non store retail activity may split, depending on its retail type, its goods, and whether it involves arranging sales for others rather than selling directly. Each old code therefore needs its own check, using the specific old description rather than the group label alone.

How Should an Old 478 or 479 Code Be Checked in Practice?

When the exact heading is uncertain, narrow slowly. Use the UNSD Rev. 5 classification detail to move from section to division to group to class, checking the description at each level against the work in question. Then consult national guidance, which often explains how international headings are applied locally, and check UNSD correspondence material for the specific old code. Do not copy a heading from a similar business without that comparison, since similar names can hide different work, and a market trader and a mail order seller can look similar on paper while doing different retail work.

For Rev. 4 groups 478 and 479, the UN Statistics Division Rev. 5 totals are 22 sections from A to V, 87 divisions, 258 groups, and 463 classes, endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission in March 2023. That scale is why this guide on Rev. 4 groups 478 and 479 keeps to ideas, boundaries, and examples. It explains how to think about an activity, what to compare, and where to check, while the UNSD detail provides the exact wording for a specific heading.

Groups 478 and 479 have therefore not vanished as activities, but they have not survived as tidy labels either. Their sellers still trade, their stalls still stand, and their orders still arrive, but their Rev. 5 headings must be found anew by retail type. This guide is statistical classification background only, and it does not assign a code, principal activity, or registration to any reader. For a formal answer, take the old code description and the candidate Rev. 5 wording to the national statistical institute or business register that holds the record.