What are the primarysecondary and tertiary service industries?

The Primary Sector

The primary sector of the economy involves changing Natural Resources into primary products. Most products from this sector are considered raw materials for other industries. Major businesses in this sector include: agriculture, agribusiness, fishing, forestry and quarrying industries.

The manufacturing industries that aggregate, pack, package, purify or process the raw materials close to the primary producers are normally considered part of this sector, especially if the raw material is unsuitable for sale or difficult to transport long distances.

The Secondary Sector

This sector generally takes the output of the primary sector and manufactures finished goods or where they are suitable for use by other businesses, for export, or sale to domestic consumers. This sector is often divided into 'light industry' and 'heavy industry'. Many of these industries consume large quantities of energy and require factories and machinery to convert the raw materials into goods and products.

They can also produce waste materials and waste heat which, most of the time, causes environmental problems for the surrounding areas as a result of the pollution caused, mostly by the factories.

The Tertiary Sector

This sector consists of the 'soft' parts of the economy. The basic characteristics of this sector are the production of services instead of end products. Services include attention, advice, experience and discussion. The production of information is also generally regarded as a service, but some economists now attribute it to a fourth sector, the quaternary sector.