Industrial Sectors
Industry is often classified into three sectors: primary or extractive, secondary or manufacturing, and tertiary or services. Some authors add quaternary (knowledge) or even quinary (culture and research) sectors.
Industries can be classified on the basis of raw materials, size and ownership.
- Raw Materials: Industries may be agriculture based, Marine based, Mineral based, Forest based....
- Size: It refers to the amount of capital invested, number of people employed and the volume of production.
- Ownership: Industries can be classified into private sector, state owned or public sector, joint sector and co-operative sector
Industry in the sense of manufacturing became a key sector of production and labour in European and North American countries during the Industrial Revolution, which upset previous mercantile and feudal economies through many successive rapid advances in technology, such as the steel and coal production. It is aided by technological advances, and has continued to develop into new types and sectors to this day. Industrial countries then assumed a capitalist economic policy. Railroads and steam-powered ships began speedily establishing links with previously unreachable world markets, enabling private companies to develop to then-unheard of size and wealth. Following the Industrial Revolution, perhaps a third of the world's economic output is derived from manufacturing industries—more than agriculture's share.
Many developed countries and many developing/semi-developed countries (People's Republic of China, India etc.) depend significantly on industry. Industries, the countries they reside in, and the economies of those countries are interlinked in a complex web of interdependence.
Industry is divided into four sectors. They are:
| Sector | Definition |
|---|---|
| Primary | This involves the extraction of resources directly from the Earth, this includes farming, mining and logging. They do not process the products at all. They send it off to factories to make a profit. |
| Secondary | This group is involved in the processing products from primary industries. This includes all factories—those that refine metals, produce furniture, or pack farm products such as meat. |
| Tertiary | This group is involved in the provision of services. They include teachers, managers and other service providers. |
| Quaternary | This group is involved in the research of science and technology. They include scientists. |
| Quinary Sector | Some consider there to be a branch of the quaternary sector called the quinary sector, which includes the highest levels of decision making in a society or economy. This sector would include the top executives or officials in such fields as government, science, universities, nonprofit, healthcare, culture, and the media. |
An Australian source relates that the quinary sector in Australia refers to domestic activities such as those performed by stay-at-home parents or homemakers. These activities are typically not measured by monetary amounts but it is important to recognize these activities in contribution to the economy.
As a country develops people move away from the primary sector to secondary and then to tertiary.
There are many other different kinds of industries, and often organized into different classes or sectors by a variety of industrial classifications.
Industry classification systems used by the government commonly divide industry into three sectors: agriculture, manufacturing, and services. The primary sector of industry is agriculture, mining and raw material extraction. The secondary sector of industry is manufacturing. The tertiary sector of industry is service production. Sometimes, one talks about a quaternary sector of industry, consisting of intellectual services such as research and development (R&D).
Market-based classification systems such as the Global Industry Classification Standard and the Industry Classification Benchmark are used in finance and market research. These classification systems commonly divide industries according to similar functions and markets and identify businesses producing related products.
Industries can also be identified by product: chemical industry, petroleum industry, automotive industry, electronic industry, meatpacking industry, hospitality industry, food industry, fish industry, software industry, paper industry, entertainment industry, semiconductor industry, cultural industry, poverty industry
- labor-intensive industry - capital-intensive industry
- light industry - heavy industry
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