We explain what the secondary sector is and what its subsectors are, with examples. In addition, a summary of the primary and tertiary sector.
What is the secondary sector?
It is known as the secondary sector or industrial sector when economic sector which deals with the transformation of raw material into products from consumption or in capital goods, constituting the second step in the production chain after the extraction of the raw material.
The secondary sector is, today, one of the most important in the development of the economy of the nations, since the procedures applied to the raw material to obtain a finished product (which goes to final consumers) or semi-elaborated (which in turn feeds other industries) adds value to the product, generating a gain higher than the cost of raw materials.
The industrial sector generally comprises four subsectors:
- Crafts. This was the basic industrial sector in Europe until the Industrial Revolution and serial production. It includes the making of consumer objects in workshops or domestic spaces, generally belonging to the family, local, and slow production, which does not seek so much to satisfy the needs demands of the market as to provide subsistence to the artisan.
- Industry. The Industrial Revolution of the 18th century brought with it a series of changes in the ability to manipulate materials on a large scale and turn them into manufactured products, being able to satisfy a growing market with a fast and constant production rate. This sector is key to sustaining the capitalism and it is one of the great beneficiaries and drivers of scientific-technological development.
- Construction. From the construction of houses and residential buildings, to the huge corporate skyscrapers or the public works of the State (squares, roads, schools, bridges, tunnels, etc.), construction is an industrial sector that advances at the pace of urban expansion and of population growth.
- Obtaining energy. The generation of electricity Through different means and mechanisms, some safer, cleaner and more reliable than others, it is an essential activity to sustain the production of a country, in all its possible sectors. Every type of industry requires energy to operate, which is why this subsector has become one of the most fundamental in the contemporary world.
Examples from the secondary sector
Some examples from the industrial sector can be:
- Factories of personal articles. As industries of shoes, textiles and other elements of consumption staff, mass-produced thanks to large, highly mechanized facilities. To do this, they consume textile and leather raw materials or plastics.
- Bottling and packaging machines. From various forms of edible raw material and other from the chemical industry (and glass), food products are generated ready to be consumed by the citizens, such as beverages, processed and packaged foods, etc.
- Chemical and petrochemical industries. Taking various chemical materials such as PetroleumThese industries obtain a wide range of scientific inputs that are used in numerous industries, such as preservatives, disinfectants, plastics, etc.
- Energy plants. Electricity generating plants generally consume fossil hydrocarbons to mobilize generating turbines, or more complex inputs such as uranium to subject it to controlled atomic processes. Other options are to strategically use natural resources such as wind, Sun or the falls of Water, which is less polluting. The result, whatever the option chosen, will be to provide electric power to both direct consumers and other economic sectors.
Primary sector
The primary sector is responsible for obtaining natural resources.
The primary sector or extractive sector is one whose activities include obtaining the natural resources necessary to start the production chain, that is, to produce the goods and inputs that the humanity you need to sustain your life pattern.
This first stage deals directly with the natural deposits or with the source of the input taken from the environment, often under the permission and supervision of the State, owner as it is of the natural resources of a territory.
Third sector
The tertiary sector or service sector is distinguished from the primary and secondary sectors in that it neither extracts nor transforms natural resources, but provides specific services both to the first two sectors and to the consumer, destined to satisfy specific needs of: transport, logistics, commercialization, sightseeing, finance, entertainment, culture, and a long etcetera. Although they do not produce goods, they are one of the fastest growing sectors in the contemporary world, partly thanks to the advantages of the globalization and e-commerce.