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IGCSE Geography Edexcel Your notes

4.1 Economic Sectors

Contents
4.1.1 Classification of Economic Sectors & Employment
4.1.2 Location of Economic Sectors
4.1.3 Changes in Economic Sectors

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4.1.1 Classification of Economic Sectors & Employment

Your notes
The Four Economic Sectors
An economic activity is the producing, purchase or selling of goods and services
Economic activities can be grouped into four sectors:
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Quaternary

Worked example
Identify what is meant by an economic sector (1)
A. The chain of production in manufacturing
B. An economic shift in employment
C. A classification of types of employment
D. A classification of employment structures

Answer:
C (1)- a classification system for types of employment
The other answers are not related to employment sectors which are the four groups -
primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary

Exam Tip
Remember the economic sectors can also be used to group employment types. For example, a
farmer is employed in the primary sector whereas a teacher is employed in the tertiary sector.

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Changes over Time

Economic sectors are an indicator of a country's economic development using either: Your notes
The amount each sector contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
The percentage of the population they employ
The proportions of each economic sector GDP and employment changes over time:
In the pre-industrial period, the primary sector dominates with steady increases in the
secondary and tertiary sectors
As countries develop the reliance on the primary sector for GDP and employment rapidly
decreases
During the industrial period the amount of GDP and employment in the secondary sector
increases to become dominant and then decreases. The primary sector continues to
decrease and tertiary sector increases
In the post-industrial phase, the tertiary and quaternary sectors increase whilst the
secondary and primary sectors decrease.
The tertiary sector dominates employment and GDP in the post-industrial period

The Clark-Fisher Model

Causes of Changes Over Time

There are a number of reasons for the change in percentages employed in each sector:
Increasing mechanisation in agriculture led to a decrease in the jobs available
People moved to urban areas to find jobs in secondary and tertiary sectors
Increasing mechanisation and global changes led to a decrease in secondary employment in
some countries

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Technological improvements have led to an increase in tertiary and quaternary employment

Your notes
Exam Tip
You should be able to look at a pie chart or graph of the economic sectors and work out the
stage of development of a country. A developing country will be dominated by primary
economic activities, an emerging country is likely to have fairly equal amounts of each type of
economic sector employment and finally a developed country will be dominated by tertiary
economic activities.

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4.1.2 Location of Economic Sectors

Your notes
Factors Influencing Location of Economic Sectors
Every type of economic activity has a particular location
The location is affected by both physical and human factors
These factors relate to the needs of the economic activity
Physical factors include:
Raw materials - industries require raw materials to produce goods
Land - how much land costs and how much is available
Energy - where the industries get their power supply from
Climate - some industries benefit from particular climates
Human factors include:
Capital - the money that is available to set up and run the economic activity
Transport and communications - accessibility by road, air and rail is important to many
industries
Market - how close the industries are to the market
Labour - all industries need workers
Government policy - tax incentives, cheaper rent

The Importance of Location Factors in Different Economic Sectors

Primary economic activities include agriculture, mining, forestry and fishing
Distance from the market and cost of transport would be particularly important for mining
due to the bulky products
Climate would be more important for agriculture

Factors affecting location Primary

Precipitation, sunshine hours and temperature all

Climate affect the type of crops grown or livestock

The amount of land available, cost, soil type and

Land resources (coal, gold)

Some crops need to be very close to the market - such

Market as soft fruits (strawberries)

Government Policies Whether subsidies are available

Labour In developed countries, there are few workers needed

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due to mechanisation

Access to roads to transport crops, animals, Your notes

Transport quarried/mined materials, timber

Secondary economic activities involve manufacturing such as cars, food processing, ship
building. The importance of the location factors depends on:
The weight of raw materials and the finished product as heavier, bulky products cost more to
transport
The siz e of the factory required, car manufacture needs much more space than food
processing or clothing production

Factors affecting location Secondary

How close the activity needs to be to raw materials and

Raw materials the types of raw materials will depend on the industry

Large areas of land often required, so the cost and

Land amount of the land is important

Access to the market is important to be able to sell the

Market goods made

Tax incentives, grants, and loans may be available if the

Government policies economic activity is located in a particular area

A power source is needed, this used to be coal or water

Energy but is now electricity which can be accessed in many
areas

Mechanisation means that not as many workers are

Labour required

Access to roads is essential to bring in raw materials and

Transport send out the product

Tertiary economic activities involve providing a service such as healthcare or retail. The most
important factor for location is usually:
Proximity to the customers

Factors affecting location Tertiary

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Land The amount of land depends on the type of economic

activity, large retail parks need lots of land
Your notes
Market Needs to be close to the customers

A power source is needed - electricity which can be

Energy accessed in many areas

Labour Workers needed both skilled and unskilled

Needs to be accessible for customers, workers and in the

Transport case of retail to bring in the products

Quaternary economic activities involve high technology such as research and development.
The most important factors in their location:
Proximity to skilled workers and universities
Pleasant working environment

Factors affecting location Quaternary

Science parks need large areas of land usually near a

Land university on the rural-urban fringe

A power source is needed - electricity which can be

Energy accessed in many areas

Labour Skilled labour needed often university graduates

Transport Needs to be accessible to the workers

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Worked example
Your notes
Using evidence from the photograph suggest three reasons why
the location shown in figure 1a was chosen for the retail park. (3)

Figure 1a - Retail park

Answer:
Any three of the following:
Close to a main road for accessibility (1)
Flat land (1)
Houses nearby for workers/customers (1)
Space for car parking (1)
Room for expansion (1)

Exam Tip
Remember if a task asks for evidence from the map/photo/graph in a question then you can only
use information that you can see on the source. You would not get a mark for stating 'cheap land'
in the worked example because there is no evidence of this in the photograph.

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Changing Location of Manufacturing

The location of economic activities do not stay same but change over time Your notes
The location of primary industry may be affected by a number of factors:
Drought, soil erosion, flooding and other events may lead to decreased growth of
crops/raising of livestock
Raw materials may run out in an area or become economically unviable
Climate change may affect the types of crops which can be grown
The location of manufacturing activities or secondary economic activities has changed
significantly:
Transport is faster and cheaper which means products can be moved around the world
An increase in transnational corporations (TNCs) with factories and offices in many
countries
Factories were once tied to a power source of coal supplies or water. Electricity is now
available almost anywhere
The internet means instant communication with factories/offices around the world is
possible
Government policies in emerging and developing countries are aimed at attracting
manufacturing often using tax incentives
Cheaper labour, less strict health and safety, cheaper land and more workers are all available
in developing and emerging countries. These reduce costs and increase profits
Raw materials may no longer be available in the area
These changes have led to a reduction in secondary economic activities in developed countries
such as the UK
This is known as deindustrialisation
The location of tertiary and quaternary economic activities is increasingly located in rural
(greenfield) areas on the rural urban fringe due to a number of factors:
There is more open space for expansion and car parking
Land is cheaper
More accessible
Located near the suburbs and commuter village - good access for workers and customers
Increase in science parks, business parks and retail parks where similar businesses are
located together
This process is known as decentralisation

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4.1.3 Changes in Economic Sectors

Your notes
Causes of Change in Employment
As countries develop the numbers of people employed in each economic sector changes
This can be seen in the Clark Fisher Model and in the pie charts below
In developing countries, such as Kenya, more people are employed in the primary sector
because:
Often a significant percentage of the rural population are subsistence farmers
The countries depend on raw material exports to developed and emerging countries
In emerging countries, such as China, the dependence on secondary economic activity
increases because:
Factories are located in emerging countries due to lower costs
More raw materials may be available in these countries
Government policies aim to attract companies to locate there
In developed countries, such as the UK, there is dependence on tertiary economic activities
because:
Education levels are higher so people want tertiary sector jobs which are, on average, higher
paid than secondary and primary jobs
Deindustrialisation means there are fewer jobs in secondary economic activities
Mechanisation means there are fewer jobs in primary and secondary economic activities

Employment by economic sector

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Reasons for Changes in the Numbers of People Employed in Economic Sectors

Reason Explanation Your notes

Raw materials may have run out or be economic unviable to obtain
Availability of
Crop production and livestock may be reduced due to drought, flood,
raw materials
pest/disease or soil erosion
Transnational corporations (TNCs) have factories and offices in many
countries
Globalisation Lower costs tend to be in developing and emerging countries
The internet and improved communication mean that service activities such as
call centres can be located anywhere in the world
There are fewer jobs in farming, mining and many factories due to
Mechanisation
mechanisation
Increasing population means that there is a greater demand for products and
Demographic
services
changes
People have more disposable income to spend on leisure and other services
Government policies target particular economic activities to locate in their
Government
country using tax incentives, infrastructure improvements (new railways,
policies
airports) and grants/cheap rent

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