What Does Economic sectors Mean
We explain what they are and what are the economic sectors. In addition, the characteristics of each one. We analyze those of Mexico and Colombia.
What are economic sectors?
The economic sectors classify the productive activity of a State or territory based on its different stages. In other words, an economic sector represents a specific segment of the production circuit, which traditionally can be primary , secondary and tertiary , depending on where it occupies in the general production chain.
In other words, every productive circuit is broken down into economic sectors, within which it is possible to find very diverse activities, which have characteristics in common. For example, the initial activity of any production process is the collection of raw materials , so it is the primary sector that is responsible for it, whether it is minerals , organic substances , food , etc.
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Primary sector
The primary sector or extraction sector is the initial sector of the circuit. Their job is to obtain the raw material directly from the natural environment. This work often involves industrial sites in the environment , therefore it has a significant ecological impact .
The products of the primary sector, despite their importance, are the ones with the least added value in the chain , since they serve as a supply for the secondary sector, and rarely go directly to the final consumer . And the more stops the product makes on its way to it, the more value added it will accumulate. For this reason, many of the underdeveloped economies subsist exclusively on the sale of raw materials, being forced to import manufactured products.
Examples of primary sector activities are livestock , agriculture , fishing, mining, the timber industry, etc.
More in: Primary sector
Secondary sector
The secondary sector or transformer sector, is in charge of processing and transforming the raw materials supplied by the primary sector into a consumer good , ready for distribution and commercialization, or a semi-finished product that will feed other industries in the secondary sector. .
This process normally involves the intervention of specialized machinery, if not physicochemical procedures that can be an important source of contamination , although not as much as the primary sector is.
Once the manufactured product leaves the secondary sector, it is ready for consumption and will therefore have accumulated added value, that is, it will be more expensive, since different energy, industrial, labor, etc. processes were involved in its manufacture. . For that reason, this sector is the most developed by the industrial powers of the world.
Examples of secondary sector industries are construction, manufacturing , energy industry and also mining (it is considered both from the first and second sectors).
Third sector
The tertiary sector or service sector is in charge of supplying the various economic actors (final consumers and intermediate segments) with various services, instead of manufactured products. That is, they are service providers , whether administrative, logistical, technical, distribution, communications , etc.
The tertiary sector is the sector with the highest employment and the highest growth in the contemporary world , and one of the sectors with the lowest degree of automation and mechanization yet.
Examples of tertiary sector industries are hotel companies , material carriers, travel agencies, human resources companies , etc.
Follow in: Tertiary sector
Quaternary sector
There is often talk of the emergence at the beginning of the 21st century of a quaternary sector, made up of specialists and professionals dedicated to research , development and innovation , whose main axis is the generation and management of knowledge . This sector includes high- tech companies , universities, etc.
Public and private sector
Private sector ventures only require the state as a regulatory framework, we will often hear about the public sector and the private sector. In this case, we are not dealing with economic sectors, but with social sectors: the segments in which a society can be understood.
There are many of them, but these two are extremely important because they concentrate the fundamental separation between public life and private life, or as established by Roman law , the res publica and private life.
Thus, the public sector is one that is administered by the government , that is, by the State . It is made up of public companies, state bodies, institutions (ministries, registries, etc.), all under the organization of state criteria, that is, all being owned by the entire society .
On the other hand, the private sector is that of individuals , of third parties that carry out initiatives, ventures and organizations with their own capital and without requiring the State except to guarantee the minimum framework for the operation of the law . Any type of own business is a perfect example of the private sector, sustained in private property .
Economic sectors in Mexico
The Mexican economy is the second largest in Latin America (after Brazil). Agricultural production plays a vital role in it, contributing almost a quarter of the nation's GDP, its spearheads being horticulture and the export of tropical fruits and vegetables.
The same is true of oil , an important source of income today. In other words, in Mexico, as in almost all of the so-called "Third World", the primary sector of the economy prevails in importance .
However, another important and growing sector is energy, managed by the State, and an enormous contribution from the services sector linked to tourism, hotels and gastronomy, given that Mexico is one of the most visited countries for tourists on the planet.
Economic sectors in Colombia
Like many of the countries of the South American region, Colombia is a country in which the primary sector is the most important, due to its enormous exports of coffee, flowers and meat foods , which support a very high percentage of its economy, being industries of long history and extremely high demand abroad.
However, in recent decades the services sector has grown enormously , especially those related to health, commerce, transport and telecommunications. This, however, has had a positive impact on the primary and secondary sectors, allowing greater effectiveness of their work and greater performance.
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