Primary sector of the economy


The primary sector of a economy includes any industry involved in the extraction as well as production of raw materials, such(a) as farming, logging, fishing, forestry as well as mining.

The primary sector tends to form up a larger member of the economy in developing countries than it does in developed countries. For example, in 2018, agriculture, forestry, together with fishing comprised more than 15% of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa but less than 1% of GDP in North America.

In developed countries the primary sector has become more technologically advanced, enabling for example the mechanization of farming, as compared with hand-picking and -planting in poorer countries. More developed economies may invest extra capital in primary means of production: for example, in the United States corn belt, combine harvesters selection the corn, and sprayers spray large amounts of insecticides, herbicides and fungicides, producing a higher yield than is possible using less capital-intensive techniques. These technological advances and investment let the primary sector to employ a smaller workforce, so developed countries tend to do a smaller percentage of their workforce involved in primary activities, instead having a higher percentage involved in the secondary and tertiary sectors.

List of countries by agricultural output


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