Primary production (economics)

The primary sector of the economy is the sector of an economy making direct use of natural resources or exploit natural resources. This includes agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining. In contrast, the secondary sector produces manufactured goods, and the tertiary sector provides services.

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.

Primary industry is a larger sector in developing countries; for instance, animal husbandry is more common in Africa than in Japan. Mining in 19th-century South Wales provides a case study of how an economy can come to rely on one form of activity.

Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, with the logging and petroleum industries being two of Canada's most important. However, in recent years, the number of terminal exchanges have heavily reduced Canada's primary industry, making Canadians rely more on quaternary industry.

In developed countries primary industry has become more technologically advanced, for instance the mechanization of farming as opposed to hand picking and planting. In more developed economies additional capital is invested in primary means of production. As an example, in the United States corn belt, combine harvesters pick the corn, and spray systems distribute large amounts of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, producing a higher yield than is possible using less capital-intensive techniques. These technological advances and investment allow the primary sector to require less workforce and, this way, developed countries tend to have a smaller percentage of their workforce involved in primary activities, instead having a higher percentage involved in the secondary and tertiary sectors.

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