SSIC Code Singapore: Choose, Read and Change It in 2026

An SSIC code is the 5-digit number that states what a Singapore company does.

It takes two minutes to pick at incorporation, then it sits on every extract a bank or a customer buys.

The short answer

Three things to hold on to:

• You choose the code. ACRA records it.
• Some codes send the name application to another agency first.
• A code that no longer fits is corrected for free.

What an SSIC code is

SSIC stands for Singapore Standard Industrial Classification. ACRA describes it as "Singapore's system for classifying business activities".

Three parties are involved, and guides often merge them.

SingStat calls the SSIC "the national standard for classifying economic activities". It follows the framework of the international classification, ISIC, and it is used in:

• censuses
• surveys
• administrative databases

On the format itself:

• The code has five digits, not four as some pages say.
• The digits run from broad to precise.
• SingStat calls the 5-digit level the sub-class.

Primary and secondary: how many codes you declare

ACRA's rule is short. "All ACRA-registered entities must use 5-digit SSIC codes to classify" two things:

• the primary business activity
• the secondary business activity, where applicable

Which activity is the primary one? Provider guides say it is the activity that weighs most in the business. The definitions sit in SingStat's publication, which separates three labels:

• Principal Activity
• Secondary Activity
• Ancillary Activity

ACRA's form asks for the first two only. In practice:

• Declare what the company does today, not what it might do in three years.
• Leave the secondary line empty when there is no real second activity.
• With more than two real activities, use the route described further down.

Where you choose the code

The code is chosen with the name, on BizFile. The steps ACRA describes:

1. In the name application, go to "Business activity".
2. Search by keyword.
3. Select one code for the primary activity.
4. Select one code for the secondary activity, if there is one.

ACRA also points to the e-Adviser on GoBusiness, where you can look for a code before filing on BizFile.

This article lists no codes. The official search tools are the source, and they carry the current edition.

A founder abroad does not file personally: a non-resident must appoint a registered filing agent. So the agent types the keyword.

• Send the agent one sentence describing the real activity.
• Ask which code was selected, before the application goes in.

When a code sends your application to another agency

This is the part the code search tools leave out. ACRA states that, depending on the name or the type of business activity, a name application may be referred to other agencies, "which may take up to 15 working days".

ACRA's page gives examples by code:

The page lists further agencies, Enterprise Singapore among them. Read the full list on ACRA's site before you settle on a code.

What it means for your calendar:

• The referral happens at the name stage, before incorporation.
• ACRA approval typically takes one to three business days. A referral can add up to 15 working days.
• A regulated code picked "just in case" buys that delay for nothing.
• A different code does not change what the company actually does.

Licensing itself is outside this article. The referral authority is the body to ask.

Where the code shows up afterwards

The declared activities are printed on the Business Profile, the extract ACRA sells for S$5.50. Anyone can read a company's Business Profile on BizFile.

It is the document that banks, landlords and counterparties ask for. They read the activity lines next to the directors and shareholders.

The code is a declaration, not a formality. You pick it once in a search box, and every reader of your Business Profile sees it until you change it.

1. 1Name reservation on BizFileOne primary code, one secondary code where applicable.
2. 2Referral, for some codes onlyAnother agency reviews the name. Up to 15 working days.
3. 3Business ProfileThe bank, the landlord and the customer read the activity lines.
4. 4The activity changesOnline edit, free, within 14 days. The profile then shows the new code.

You get one free check. ACRA issues a Business Profile at no charge in these cases, among others:

• just after incorporation
• just after an annual return is filed

Read the activity lines each time. A vague code, or one unrelated to what the company sells, is visible to everyone who buys the extract.

How to change an SSIC code

The rule covers every change to an entity's information. "All registered entities must notify ACRA of any changes within 14 days from the date of change, except foreign companies which have 30 days."

ACRA's steps for the activity:

1. Open the "Entity Information" page.
2. Under "Business activities", select "Edit".
3. Enter the new code, or search by keyword.
4. State the effective date.
5. Use "Add secondary business activity" for an optional second code.

Provider guides add conditions that ACRA's page does not carry.

Three practical notes:

• Changing the activity is a decision of the directors. Document it, even though the filing itself is a few clicks.
• The 30-day period is worded for foreign companies. If your Singapore company is simply owned from abroad, work to 14 days.
• We quote no penalty figure, because we have not read one in ACRA's text.

More than two activities

"Up to two codes" is repeated everywhere, and it is incomplete. ACRA provides a route for additional business activities beyond the primary and the secondary:

• the eService is called "General Lodgement (Others)"
• the filing gives the SSIC code of each additional activity

Use it when the extra activity is real and lasting. A side project that brings in nothing does not need a line on the register.

SSIC 2025: the edition now in force

The classification is revised every five years. The current edition is SSIC 2025, an update of SSIC 2020.

Provider guides date the switch on BizFile to May 9, 2026. ACRA put "SSIC 2025 Code changes" on the agenda of a webinar for corporate service providers on March 26, 2026, but we have not read an ACRA announcement of the date itself, so treat it as reported.

What to do, whatever the exact date:

1. Open your latest Business Profile and read the activity lines.
2. Compare the code with SingStat's correspondence table if it looks unfamiliar.
3. Edit the activity if the description no longer matches the business.
4. Ignore any guide that still compares SSIC 2020 with SSIC 2015.

What a foreign founder should do

The code is a small field in a larger file, and it is part of setting up a Singapore company from abroad. Four habits cover it:

1. Describe, then code. Write the activity in one sentence and let the code follow.
2. Check the referral list first. Up to 15 working days is worth knowing before you plan a launch.
3. Read the free profile. The one issued after incorporation shows what was declared.
4. Update when the business moves. The edit is free and the period is 14 days.

5digits in every code

15working days a referral may take

14days to notify a change

S$0fee to update the code

The summary