The International Organization for Standardization reports an 18-percent increase in the number of international registrations issued for ISO 9001 in its annual ISO Survey of Certifications. The survey is ISO’s main barometer for measuring international use of and compliance with its standards. The Geneva-based organization reports that as of December 2005, there were 776,608 organizations in 161 countries registered to ISO 9001.

Certifications to ISO 14001 have also grown. The survey reports a 24-percent increase in the number of registered organizations—111,162 in 138 countries. In 2004, there were 89,937 registered organizations in 127 countries.

The numbers of organizations registered to ISO/TS 16949 and ISO 13485 saw the largest gains in the survey by far. ISO reports that as of the end of 2005, there were 17,047 organizations registered to ISO/TS 16949, an increase of 70 percent over 2004. Even more striking was the growth of ISO 13485—the survey found 5,065 ISO 13485-registered organizations in 67 countries, a 111-percent increase over 2004, when there were 2,403 registered organizations in 55 countries.

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