Difference Between Primary and Secondary Sector.| To have a complete idea of a country’s economy, one must have knowledge of its sector and its contribution to GDP. The economy of a country consists of three sectors – the primary sector (agriculture and related sectors), the Secondary Sector (industrial sector), and the Tertiary Sector (service sector).
The primary sector is related to natural resources in the sense that it uses natural resources for the production of raw materials and supplies used by industry or households for consumption. In contrast, the secondary sector includes construction and manufacturing activities. It aims to provide customers with finished goods and tangible products, to meet their basic needs.
Lastly, the tertiary sector concerns all activities that involve providing services to people like education, medical, banking, insurance, etc.
In this content we will discuss the differences between the primary and secondary sectors. But before we dive into the differences, let’s have a look at the definitions of each of these sectors.
Definition of Primary Sector
The primary sector can be defined as an economic sector that only relies on the environment because it includes activities involving the use of earth’s resources such as water, soil, wind, plants, materials and minerals. Therefore, it can be said that this sector is highly dependent on the availability and accessibility of natural resources.
The primary sector consists of businesses engaged in the extraction and exploitation of natural resources directly as the main objective of their activities.
This may include harvesting explicitly from the wild, cultivating crops, pets, hunting and gathering, forestry and logging, extracting minerals and fuels from the earth or using non-renewable energy sources from the environment.
This sector is said to be the largest in terms of employment, especially in developing countries. The types of machines used in this sector can range from light to heavy, depending on the level of development. Advanced economies often use advanced techniques and heavy equipment to increase efficiency and also reduce the workforce.
Definition of Secondary Sector
The secondary sector of the state includes economic activities that produce finished and ready-to-use products. Businesses engaged in the secondary sector have ‘manufacturing’ as their core job so they use the outputs of the primary sector as inputs, i.e. raw materials and supplies and process the same to what extent the outputs can be used by other business entities, for further processing, exports or sell them to domestic consumers or as semi-finished goods that assist in the manufacture of other products.
This sector is known for adding value to natural resources by converting inputs into products that are valued by society. This includes the manufacturing, engineering and construction industries.
Industries in this sector are classified as heavy industry and light industry:
- Heavy industry includes steelmaking, chemical and engineering works, automobile manufacturing, construction and shipbuilding, aerospace manufacturing, metalworking, oil refineries, etc.
- Light industry is an industry engaged in textile production, food production, cosmetic manufacturing and household electronics manufacturing, etc.
To process heavy machinery and equipment, a large amount of energy and raw materials are required to produce the output, however, heavy waste is also generated during the process.
Difference Between Primary and Secondary Sector
- The Primary Sector includes activities that produce goods, by extracting or utilizing natural resources. On the other hand, the Secondary Sector includes all activities related to the transformation of natural products into various forms, through manufacturing means.
- The primary sector is categorized as an unorganized sector because the terms of work are uncertain and regular. In contrast, the secondary sector is classified under the organized sector because of the certainty and regularity in terms of employment.
- The Primary Sector often uses traditional or advanced techniques depending on the level of development in the economy. In contrast, scientific and modern techniques are used in the secondary sector as they involve the processing and conversion of goods.
- The primary sector includes activities such as agriculture, dairy products, mining and quarrying, fishing, forestry and logging, animal husbandry, grazing, hunting and gathering, etc. On the other hand, the secondary sector includes activities such as Manufacturing, production, processing and conversion of goods, trade, engineering, refining, transportation and communication.
- Most of the workforce involved in the primary sector is unskilled. In contrast, the secondary sector employs both unskilled and skilled workers.
Red Thread | The above article discussed how the two sectors of the economy are different, but you should know that these two sectors are not contradictory, but complementary because of their dependence on each other.
While farmers depend on the secondary sector for their equipment, fertilizers, machinery, tractors etc. Similarly, large scale industries purchase raw materials such as cotton yarn, wood, sugar cane from farmers which also show their dependence on the primary sector.
