This is because it determines the area of activity of a business and is used in various tax and legal obligations. In addition, it is used by sales teams to cross-reference strategic information and analyze potential customers for prospecting.
In this article, we will show you a simple step-by-step guide to help you find the CNAE by company name quickly and without complications. Let's go!
What is CNAE and why is it important?
Before we talk about the necessary steps, it is worth understanding its meaning better: the CNAE (National Classification of Economic Activities) is a numerical code that identifies the main and secondary economic activity of a company.
To give you an idea, it classifies Brazil's economic sectors into no less than 1,301 subclasses, which are divided into 21 sections, 87 divisions, 285 groups and 673 classes.
This includes companies, public and private organizations, rural establishments and even self-employed professionals. It is used by government agencies for tax, statistical and administrative purposes.
Currently, the country has more than 23 million email lists australia active companies, distributed across 2,380 sectors of the economy, 27 states and 5,570 cities.
Why is CNAE important in B2B sales?
By learning how this classification works, the sales professional will be able to gather information to combine and cross-reference CNAE data with other segmentation criteria such as revenue, number of employees, companies growing or shrinking, tax regime and registration status, among others.

In addition, it also helps to:
Define a company's tax framework.
Identify potential partners or competitors in the market.
Correctly fill out tax documents, such as issuing invoices.
Now that you know what CNAE is, let's get down to business: how do you find out a company's CNAE?
Step by step guide to finding out a company's CNAE code
1. Start your search by the company name or CNPJ
The first step is to have the name or CNPJ of the company you wish to consult.
The CNPJ is like the company's ID and is necessary to access registration information, including the CNAE.
Where can I find the CNPJ?
In invoices issued by the company.
On the company's website or official materials.
In contracts and business documents.
BONUS: use Econodata's free Company Consultation tool . More details about it below.
2. Use the Econodata Company Query tool
With the CNPJ in hand, the next step is to access CNPJ consultation websites such as the tool created by Econodata, Consulta Empresa .
One of its distinguishing features is that there you can consult more details about any company in Brazil, including the CNAE code.
In addition to this code, the tool provides strategic information such as administrative staff, sector, number of employees and much more in a database with more than 50 million active and inactive companies.
3. Practical example of how to find out a company's CNAE
Let's say you want to find out the CNAE code for Econodata. Follow the steps below:
Access the Company Consultation
Enter the name Econodata in the “Name or CNPJ” box and click search
In the results, click on the company name Econodata
On the Econodata company page, go to the Details box and there you will find the respective CNAE code
4. Find out what the CNAE code found means
You might be thinking: okay, I found the code I was looking for, but what does it mean and what can I do with it?
Don't worry, we're thinking of helping you with this step too! We've created another free tool, this time for consulting information about CNAE hierarchies .
Using a CNAE code, the tool helps you discover strategic data about the activities involved and also offers segmented lists of companies to boost your active prospecting.
Why use Econodata's free tools?
The benefits are varied, but we can highlight three main ones:
Access to important information such as annual revenue, number of employees and level of economic activity.
Provides information about the companies’ partners and decision-makers .
Consult strategic information in just a few clicks and with reliable and updated data, optimizing your prospecting time.
Boost your B2B prospecting
Finding a company's CNAE code doesn't have to be a complicated task. With the right tools and following the step-by-step guide we've outlined, you can access this information quickly and easily.
Want to deepen your searches and access more strategic information about companies in Brazil? Try the Econodata platform and boost your B2B prospecting.