International Affairs (NAICS 92812): An Investor's Primer

This is a short "rollup" page. NAICS 92812 is a five-digit industry that contains exactly one six-digit child — 928120, also called International Affairs. The two codes describe the same activity, so this page gives the level's own figures and points you to the full 928120 primer for the detail.

1. Overview

In the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) — the standard used to categorize the economy — code 92812 "International Affairs" is a public-administration category, not a business sector in the ordinary sense. It captures the government offices and international bodies that conduct relations between nations: U.S. bodies such as the Department of State and the Peace Corps, foreign governments' embassies and consulates on U.S. soil, and international organizations headquartered here — the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and others.[1]

Investors care about a code with almost no companies in it because it sits at the head of a large private ecosystem that lives or dies by its budget. Diplomacy and foreign-aid programs are delivered on the ground by for-profit contractors, non-profits, and consulting firms — the "implementing partners." When the U.S. government's international-affairs budget moves, their revenue moves with it. The 2025 shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is the clearest recent lesson.[10][11] You cannot buy "international affairs"; you buy the contractors exposed to it.

2. What's inside — and why this level equals its one child

NAICS is a nested hierarchy. Code 92812 sits here:

92 Public Administration → 928 National Security and International Affairs → 9281 → 92812 → 928120

The five-digit industry 92812 has a single six-digit national industry beneath it — 928120, International Affairs — and nothing else. When a five-digit code splits into exactly one child, the two are definitionally identical: every establishment, dollar, and person counted at 928120 is the whole of 92812. There is no aggregation to do and no sibling industries to blend, so this level inherits its child's definition, scope, and economics without change.

That child covers three kinds of "establishments," none an ordinary private business:[1] (1) U.S. federal foreign-affairs offices — State, the Peace Corps, the U.S. Agency for Global Media, and, until 2025, USAID; (2) foreign governments' missions in the U.S. — embassies and consulates; and (3) international organizations headquartered here — the World Bank, the IMF, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United Nations. It excludes national security and the armed forces (NAICS 928110), administration of international trade programs (NAICS 926110), and private trade associations (NAICS 813910).[1]

For everything below the summary — the full investable universe, contract economics, regulation, and risks — see the 928120 primer, which this page does not duplicate.

3. How big it is (this level's figures)

We have no ingested federal business statistics for NAICS 92812 — and that absence is itself the key fact. Histometrics holds no U.S. Census Bureau or Small Business Administration (SBA) metrics for this node. This is not a random gap: the Census Bureau's core business programs — the Economic Census, County Business Patterns (CBP), and the Statistics of U.S. Businesses (SUSB) — exclude Public Administration and government establishments by design.[3] An industry made almost entirely of governments and international bodies is nearly invisible in private-business data, so no establishment, payroll, or receipts figure exists to report here. Because 92812 equals its one child, the same blank applies at both levels.

Since 92812 is identical to 928120, its size is best read through the same three proxies (all agency- or budget-wide, not NAICS revenue — no such figure exists):

• The money (budget lens). International affairs is federal budget "Function 150," historically about 1% of the total federal budget.[4] The State–Foreign Operations (SFOPS) appropriation — the main U.S. diplomacy and foreign-aid line — was roughly $62.7 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2024; for FY2026 the administration requested cutting it to $31.2 billion, and Congress ultimately enacted about $50 billion.[5][6]
• The money (spending lens). Broad U.S. foreign-assistance obligations were an estimated $99.9 billion in FY2023.[8]
• The people. Before the 2025 reorganization, the State Department had more than 14,000 Foreign Service and roughly 13,000 civil-service employees, plus over 31,000 locally hired Foreign Service Nationals;[16] Washington hosts roughly 175–185 embassies,[17] and the World Bank alone employs more than 10,000 people.[18]

Undercount caveat: any commercial location tally for this code (one aggregator lists ~740 U.S. locations[2]) captures only a sliver of private or quasi-private offices and misses the governmental core entirely. Measured by dollars and people, this is a multi-tens-of-billions, six-figure-headcount activity that will never surface in private-establishment statistics.

4. Investable universe (where the value sits)

Because 92812 has one child, all investable value concentrates in the same contractor-and-services ecosystem described in the 928120 primer — there is no separate pool of firms at this level. There is no pure public play: the core institutions are governments and non-profits that issue no stock. Exposure comes indirectly, and it is usually a minority of any listed firm's revenue. Publicly traded proxies (tickers shown are exposure markers, not direct 928120 establishments) include Tetra Tech (NASDAQ: TTEK) and ICF International (NASDAQ: ICFI) with the most aid-program sensitivity, and the broader government-services primes Leidos (NYSE: LDOS), SAIC (NASDAQ: SAIC), Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH), CACI International (NYSE: CACI), KBR (NYSE: KBR), and Amentum (NYSE: AMTM). The deepest, purest exposure sits in privately held implementing partners — Chemonics International, DAI Global, Abt Global — and non-profits, most employee-owned or non-corporate and therefore not buyable on an exchange.[12][19][20] See the 928120 primer for the full table and disclosed exposures.

5. How the money works

The economics are inherited whole from 928120. For the government core there is no profit or revenue in the commercial sense: Congress funds Function 150 annually, and "success" is measured in appropriated dollars (budget authority), obligations (money legally committed), and outlays (money actually paid).[7] The dominant swing factor is politics — the FY2026 fight over more than halving the topline, layered with rescission proposals (clawbacks of already-appropriated money), shows how fast the number can move.[5][6] For the private ecosystem, the money works like federal contracting: much aid work is cost-reimbursement ("cost-plus" — thin, stable margins), firms shift toward fixed-price work to lift margins, and funded backlog and book-to-bill are the forward indicators. The hidden danger is customer concentration — some implementers drew nearly all revenue from a single funder (Chemonics was historically ~95% USAID-funded), spectacular while the money flowed and catastrophic when it stopped.[12][19]

6. Demand drivers

Demand is policy demand, not consumer or industrial demand. The main swing factors carry over unchanged from 928120: the federal budget and its politics (international affairs is a perennial cut target because it is small and lacks a domestic constituency)[4]; geopolitics (wars, refugee and health crises, and U.S.–China influence competition raise the case for diplomacy and aid); overseas infrastructure and security (embassy construction and protection — State's Capital Security Construction Program had cost about $40 billion through FY2024, roughly $2 billion a year since 2015)[9]; foreign presence in the U.S.; and multilateral commitments to the UN, World Bank, and IMF. Underlying demand for the capability is durable; the private revenue opportunity is uneven and politically timed.

7. Regulation

The activity is regulation and statecraft, so the rules split between the government core and its private suppliers — identically to 928120. The core runs on congressional appropriations and rescission authority, the Foreign Assistance Act, executive authority over foreign affairs (Executive Order (EO) 14169 of January 2025 triggered the aid freeze that unwound USAID), and diplomatic law under the Vienna Conventions.[6][11] Private suppliers carry a heavier compliance load: the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions framework, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), and Inspector-General audit and oversight.[24][25][26][27][23]

8. Consolidation

Two competitive worlds sit under this one code. The government/multilateral core does not "compete" in a market sense — work is allocated by statute and diplomacy — but its scope can shrink violently, as in 2025 when USAID's 80%-plus program cancellations folded surviving functions into the State Department.[10][11] The private contractor market is competitive, relationship-driven, and now consolidating under stress: the 2025 collapse wiped out much of the pure-play development-contracting market (Chemonics lost 90-plus contracts; DAI cut 383 staff), rewarded diversified federal primes, and is likely to push distressed development assets and contract vehicles toward diversified or foreign buyers.[12][25][26]

9. Risks

The risk profile is inherited whole from 928120. Policy and appropriations risk is dominant and largely unhedgeable — a single election, executive order, continuing resolution, reorganization, or rescission can halve or gut the funding, as 2025 proved.[6][11] Also material: customer-concentration risk (dependence on one agency, award, country, or political priority)[12]; contract and working-capital risk (recompetes, protests, delayed awards, stop-work orders, and terminations that strand cash)[12]; compliance risk (OFAC, ITAR, FCPA, FARA, audits, debarment)[27][26][25][23]; country and security risk in the field[24]; and workforce risk — the core lost thousands of experienced diplomats and aid experts in 2025.[15][16]

10. How to invest, and the outlook

There is no clean way to "buy international affairs" and no exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracks it — the same conclusion as at 928120, because the two codes are the same activity. Sort public exposure by purity: more aid-sensitive names (ICF International, Tetra Tech) versus broader adjacent primes where aid is a small, resilient slice (Leidos, SAIC, Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI, KBR, Amentum). Treat aid-heavy revenue as a risk factor, not a growth story, and prize diversification.[19] The purest exposure — Chemonics, DAI, Abt Global, the NGO world — is largely not publicly investable; private-market participants engage through employment, contracting/subcontracting, or private credit, and distressed development-contractor situations after 2025 are a plausible but policy-exposed niche.[28]

Outlook: durable underlying demand with volatile timing. The strongest businesses have scarce expertise, trusted customer relationships, strong compliance systems, and diversified award mechanisms; the weakest are undifferentiated labor providers tied to one agency or one large contract. The honest summary — identical at both codes — is that International Affairs is a real, consequential, tens-of-billions-a-year activity, but it is a government function, not an industry you can own, and its tradable exposure is indirect and governed less by economics than by politics.

→ For the full detail — complete investable-universe table, contract-level economics, the regulatory and consolidation deep dive, and the full risk register — see the child primer, NAICS 928120 (International Affairs).

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Sources

1. U.S. Census Bureau, "2022 NAICS: 928120 International Affairs" (definition, index entries, and exclusions to 928110 / 926110 / 813910). https://www.census.gov/naics/?details=928120&input=928120&year=2022
2. NAICS Association, "NAICS Code 928120 — International Affairs" (commercial location count, ~740 U.S. locations). https://www.naics.com/naics-code-description/?code=928120
3. U.S. Census Bureau, "Economic Census: Understanding NAICS" (Public Administration excluded from Economic Census / CBP / SUSB). https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/economic-census/year/2022/guidance/understanding-naics.html
4. Congressional Research Service, "Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs: FY2025 Budget and Appropriations," R48231, 2024 (Function 150 ≈ 1% of the federal budget). https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48231
5. ONE.org, "The Administration's FY26 International Budget Request & Rescissions," 2025 (FY2024 SFOPS ≈ $62.7B; FY2026 request $31.2B). https://www.one.org/us/what-we-do/the-issues/foreign-assistance/the-administrations-fy26-international-budget-request-rescissions/
6. USGLC / Congressional Research Service, "Congress Reaches Agreement on FY26 International Affairs Spending," R48624, 2025/2026 (≈ $50.07B enacted). https://www.usglc.org/the-budget/congress-reaches-agreement-on-fy26-international-affairs-spending/; https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48624
7. USAspending.gov, "Department of State Spending Profile," 2026 (obligations, personnel, and asset counts). https://www.usaspending.gov/agency/department-of-state
8. Congressional Research Service, "U.S. Foreign Assistance," IF10183, 2025 (FY2023 foreign-assistance obligations ≈ $99.9B). https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10183
9. Government Accountability Office, "Embassy Management: Increasing Costs and Natural Hazards Threaten State's Efforts," GAO-25-107582, 2024 (Capital Security Construction Program ≈ $40B through FY2024; ~$2B/yr since 2015). https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-25-107582
10. NPR, "USAID officially shuts down and merges remaining operations with State Department," July 1, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/07/01/nx-s1-5451372/usaid-officially-shuts-down-and-merges-remaining-operations-with-state-department
11. KFF, "U.S. Foreign Aid Freeze & Dissolution of USAID: Timeline of Events," 2025 (EO 14169; freeze timeline). https://www.kff.org/global-health-policy/u-s-foreign-aid-freeze-dissolution-of-usaid-timeline-of-events/
12. Devex / DevelopmentAid, "Chemonics received over 100 US govt terminations" and "Top USAID contractors for 2021" (Chemonics/DAI scale, USAID dependence, 2025 terminations and layoffs). https://www.devex.com/news/chemonics-received-over-100-us-govt-terminations-1-was-rescinded-109590; https://www.developmentaid.org/news-stream/post/141002/top-usaid-contractors-for-2021
13. Federal News Network, "State Dept lays off 1,350 employees as reorganization nears final phase," July 2025 (~15% U.S.-workforce cut; FY2027 staffing plan). https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/07/state-dept-prepares-for-widespread-layoffs-as-reorganization-nears-final-phase/
14. American Foreign Service Association, "The Foreign Service by the Numbers," 2025 (Foreign Service, civil-service, and FSN headcounts). https://afsa.org/foreign-service-numbers
15. Wikipedia, "List of diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C.," 2026 (embassy and consulate counts). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diplomatic_missions_in_Washington,_D.C
16. Wikipedia, "World Bank Group," 2025 (headquarters and employment). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Bank_Group
17. Tetra Tech, Annual Report (Form 10-K), FY2025 (USAID ≈ 10.6% of FY2025 revenue; re-mix away from cost-plus aid work). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/831641/000083164125000032/ttek-20250928.htm
18. ICF International, Annual Report (Form 10-K), 2025 (international-government clients ≈ 7% of 2025 revenue). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1362004/000119312526082536/icfi-20251231.htm
19. KBR, Annual Report (Form 10-K), 2026 (State Department, intelligence, and allied-government services; overseas operating risk). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1357615/000135761526000051/kbr-20260102.htm
20. Amentum Holdings, Annual Report (Form 10-K), 2025 (began public trading September 30, 2024; broad government-services exposure). https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2011286/000162828025053993/amtm-20251003.htm
21. Peraton and Veritas Capital, "Peraton Appoints Steve Schorer as Chief Executive Officer," 2024 (private, sponsor-backed government-services company). https://www.peraton.com/news/peraton-appoints-steve-schorer-as-chief-executive-officer
22. FHI 360, "Who We Are," 2026 (non-profit international-development operator; not an equity investment). https://www.fhi360.org/who-we-are/
23. USAID Office of Inspector General, "Non-Federal Audits: Management Gaps Weaken Stewardship of U.S. Foreign Assistance," 2026. https://oig.usaid.gov/node/8010
24. Acquisition.gov, "Federal Acquisition Regulation, Subpart 6.1 (competition) and Part 16 (contract types)," 2026. https://www.acquisition.gov/far/subpart-6.1; https://www.acquisition.gov/far/part-16
25. U.S. Department of Justice, "Foreign Agents Registration Act: Frequently Asked Questions," 2026. https://www.justice.gov/nsd-fara/frequently-asked-questions
26. U.S. Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission, "FCPA Resource Guide," 2024. https://www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-fraud/fcpa-resource-guide
27. U.S. Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, "A Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments," 2019. https://ofac.treasury.gov/system/files/126/framework_ofac_cc.pdf
28. U.S. Department of State, "4 FAH-3 H-114 Budget Process," 2024 (Function 150 appropriations process across State, USAID, and foreign-assistance programs). https://fam.state.gov/fam/04fah03/04fah030110.html