1.1.6

The Different Economic Sectors

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The 3 Sectors

There are 3 main sectors in the economy:

Illustrative background for Primary sectorIllustrative background for Primary sector ?? "content

Primary sector

  • The primary sector produces raw materials. These are natural resources that can be used to make products or provide services.
  • Natural resources can be:
    • Extracted from the ground like oil, coal and gas
    • Collected like trees in the forestry industry
    • Grown like crops in the farming/agriculture industry
Illustrative background for Secondary sectorIllustrative background for Secondary sector ?? "content

Secondary sector

  • The secondary sector manufactures goods
  • This is the next stage of the supply chain.
  • Businesses in this sector turn raw materials into finished goods.
    • E.g. A paper manufacturer makes paper out of wood collected by the forestry/logging industry.
Illustrative background for Tertiary sectorIllustrative background for Tertiary sector ?? "content

Tertiary sector

  • As discussed previously these services can take a wide variety of forms and can exist to serve customers, businesses or a combination of both.
    • A simple example is the healthcare industry, which provides a wide range of healthcare services to people.
    • Another example is Facebook, which provides a social media service to customers while also providing an advertising service to businesses.

Jump to other topics

1Exploring Business

2Marketing Campaigns

3Business Finance

4International Business

5Principles of Management

6Business Decision Making

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