Classification of Economic Sectors & Employment (Edexcel IGCSE Geography)
Revision Note
Written by: Bridgette Barrett
Reviewed by: Jenna Quinn
The Four Economic Sectors
An economic activity is the producing, purchase or selling of goods and services
Economic activities can be grouped into four sectors:
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Quaternary
Worked Example
Identify what is meant by an economic sector (1 Mark)
| A. The chain of production in manufacturing |
| B. An economic shift in employment |
| C. A classification of types of employment |
| D. A classification of employment structures |
Answer:
C (1) - a classification system for types of employment
The other answers are not related to employment sectors which are the four groups - primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Remember the economic sectors can also be used to group employment types. For example, a farmer is employed in the primary sector whereas a teacher is employed in the tertiary sector.
Changes over Time
Economic sectors are an indicator of a country's economic development using either:
The amount each sector contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The percentage of the population they employ
The proportions of each economic sector GDP and employment changes over time:
In the pre-industrial period, the primary sector dominates with steady increases in the secondary and tertiary sectors
As countries develop the reliance on the primary sector for GDP and employment rapidly decreases
During the industrial period the amount of GDP and employment in the secondary sector increases to become dominant and then decreases. The primary sector continues to decrease and tertiary sector increases
In the post-industrial phase, the tertiary and quaternary sectors increase whilst the secondary and primary sectors decrease.
The tertiary sector dominates employment and GDP in the post-industrial period
Causes of Changes Over Time
There are a number of reasons for the change in percentages employed in each sector:
Increasing mechanisation in agriculture led to a decrease in the jobs available
People moved to urban areas to find jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors
Increasing mechanisation and global changes led to a decrease in secondary employment in some countries
Technological improvements have led to an increase in tertiary and quaternary employment
Examiner Tips and Tricks
You should be able to look at a pie chart or graph of the economic sectors and work out the stage of development of a country. A developing country will be dominated by primary economic activities, an emerging country is likely to have fairly equal amounts of each type of economic sector employment and finally a developed country will be dominated by tertiary economic activities.
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