Every job adds value somewhere in a chain that runs from the ground to the customer. Geographers sort that work into sectors, and the mix of sectors in a place tells a lot about its economy, as the regions you have mapped show.
Key idea
The primary sector takes resources from the earth (farming, fishing, forestry, mining). The secondary sector makes things (manufacturing, construction, processing). The tertiary sector provides services (stores, transport, health care, teaching). Some geographers add the quaternary sector (information and research) and the quinary sector (the highest-level decision makers).
| Sector | What the work is | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Taking from nature | Wheat farmer, fisher, logger, copper miner |
| Secondary | Turning materials into products | Steelworker, car assembler, builder, baker in a factory |
| Tertiary | Serving people | Cashier, truck driver, nurse, teacher, waiter |
| Quaternary | Creating and handling information | Software developer, research scientist, financial analyst |
| Quinary | Top-level decisions | Chief executives, senior government officials, heads of major institutions |
Why it works
As countries develop, their workers shift from primary to secondary to tertiary work. Machines let fewer farmers grow more food, factories hire the people who leave farms, and, as incomes rise, people spend more on services such as health care, travel and education. Today most workers in rich countries are in the tertiary sector, while in many low-income countries most still work in farming. Economists Allan Fisher and Colin Clark described this shift in the 1930s and 1940s.
Worked example: Same company, different sectors
A car company employs assembly-line workers, accountants and designers. Which sector does each belong to?
- Assembly-line workers make the cars: secondary.
- Accountants provide a service: tertiary.
- Designers create new designs and information: quaternary.
Answer: Secondary, tertiary and quaternary.
Worked example: Read a workforce
In Country A, 60% of workers farm, 15% work in industry and 25% in services. In Country B, 2% farm, 20% work in industry and 78% in services. Which is more developed, by this measure?
- Development usually shifts workers out of farming and into services.
- B has very few farmers and most workers in services.
Answer: Country B.
Common mistake
Putting a factory's office workers in the secondary sector. Sort by the work itself: designing and managing are services, even inside a manufacturing company. Only the people who make the product are doing secondary-sector work.