resource allocation - economic setors

Primary sector

• Economic activities to do with sourcing and extracting natural minerals

Secondary sector

• Economic activity converting raw materials to a product.

• Manufacturing

Tertiary sector

• Economic activity to do with services

Quaternary sector

• Economic activity to do with research + development + modern technologies eg. AI.

Interdependence

One cannot exist without each other. Linking sectors.

Goods

• Tangible product that can be produced

Services

• Something intangible that someone will provide.

Customer

• Someone who has bought something, usually to sell on,

Consumer

• The end user - someone who has bought something to use.

Primary sector + secondary sector are getting smaller because…

• Less people are employed in this sector because of mechanisation / digitalisation

• Increasing cheap imports from low wage countries.

Tertiary sector is getting bigger because…

Consumers have:

• More money they can spend on what they want

• More free-time

• And UK is a leader in financial industry

Quaternary sector is growing fastest because…

• Large investments in R+D to follow rapidly moving industries

• Encouragement in this sector by government

• Tertiary pays highest ways so it’s more competitive. Therefore people seek out jobs in the quaternary sector instead.