Primary, secondary and tertiary activities

All the economic activities of a country are classified according to their objective, For this reason, three types of these can be found, in which tasks such as obtaining raw material, manufacturing producer and materials based on it, and selling them are distributed, generating an economic cycle with socio-economic contributions for this one.

The separation and distribution of the obligations is very effective, because thanks to this a specific order is generated by which the primary, secondary and tertiary activities must be governed.

These have a critical impact on social and economic spheres of a nation, since society has needs for services such as water, electricity or gas, and in addition to these they also require certain products to be able to carry out the various daily tasks and obligations, consequently this is of utmost importance at an economic level, due to that generates consumption of the services provided or products to be sold.

It should be noted that one leads to the other, so the existence of one supports the other, generating a kind of alliance between the sectors that carry out the activities, since there is the exchange of goods and services between the participating parties, which characterizes the trade area.

What are economic activities?

These are all those practices that lead to the production of any type of product or service that is intended to generate income, which is of utmost importance for a nation because it provides sustenance at an economic level.

They are divided into three groups, due to the fact that they are completely different processes that they fulfill, so they are assigned a place depending on the objective they take, such as:

Primary activities

Primary activities are one of the most important. The reason? Because when we talk about them, we mention that they are activities that focus on achieving or extract natural resources necessary, in order to market them and earn money or for own consumption. So it can be said that these types of activities will always depend on the environment, since they take advantage of the resources that it offers us, such as water or vegetation, among others. Broadly speaking, we take these natural resources and they do not need a transformation to be able to be used.

Some of the most common examples are planting or cultivating the land. From it will come the food necessary for consumption or to sell. What generates economic activity. The same occurs with fishing or raising animals such as pigs or chickens and others, which provide eggs or meat to meet the first needs. As we well know, both agriculture and livestock have played a fundamental role in food for many years.

In short, primary activities are all those that are obtained from natural resources, and from which the primary materials are obtained, necessary for the manufacture of products, whether they are consumable or usable, of which the most relevant are:

What are the primary activities?

Fishing

Being one of the main ones in most of the countries of the world, due to its great potential, fishing is a primary activity, since fish is obtained from it, used to make different foods and medicines.

We can find several types of fishing:

• High fishing: As its name suggests, it is fished quite far from the coast. It is also known as sport fishing. In it you can find species such as cod or hake. The boats are larger and fully equipped for her. Radars and sonars are used to detect schools of fish.
• Inshore fishing: In this case, the fishing is done much closer to the coast and for this, the boats used are smaller. Sardines, horse mackerel and some shellfish are usually the main ones in this type of fishing.

livestock

It is one of the oldest practiced by man. It is dedicated to breeding and exploitation of animals of domesticable character such as cow, pig, chicken, roosters, among others, in order to obtain various products from them in order to market them.

It is from this that the foods that contain the largest deposit of proteins and minerals that humans usually consume are obtained, such as beef, milk, cheese, eggs, and chicken, among many others.

Within it, we must also differentiate a type that is based on the animals being within large areas of land. What they do that they are not locked up and can graze at will.

Although it is true that it has a somewhat lower productivity. On the other hand, there is the one that has the animals locked up, which is gradually going away using more technology and it is the one with a much higher production.

The Agriculture

Also practiced for many years by humanity. It is a net activity of plant cultivation techniques, in order to obtain their fruits, such as grain, the same fruits, their roots and even their leaves.

It is another of the primary activities that have been with us for many years. So little has recently been modernized. Since in this case you can also resort to the help of more classic utensils or some that already incorporate certain more modern mechanisms or machines. Hence modern agriculture and uses such heavy machines that do faster work and effective.

It should be noted that from this primary activity the foods that provide the carbohydrates necessary for the sustenance of human beings are obtained, such as rice, beans, corn, and wheat.

Mining

It refers to the extraction of minerals that are found in the soil or subsoil of the earth, managing to acquire the necessary resources for the manufacture of many elements, whether they are electronic, home linen, among many others.

In this, the most important raw material is obtained for the realization of most of the products in the factories.

Within mining we can find the metalliferous minerals  such as aluminum, iron or chromium among others. But on the other hand, we also talk about non-metallic ones like sulfur. In addition to fuels and through types of rock such as marble, which also enter into primary activity. Nowadays, mining has also taken an important technological step, thus reducing the workforce.

Logging

It refers to any activity that involves obtaining raw material from the forest, which may or may not be wood, because there are many non-domesticable animals that can also be consumed by humans.

This type of primary activity is not very respected, and protests are often seen against it, which support the rights of wildlife.

What is the importance of primary activities

Primary activities are the foundation of the economy. Again, we have to mention that each and every one of the five primary activities that we have is really important. Why? Because they are in charge of providing us with basic food and resources for our life or health.

In other words, it can be said that the importance of primary activities is that they are basic and authentic at the same time. Because without them, we could not understand other types of activities. That is, without this raw material It would not go through other processes that give rise to food or products necessary to live. On the other hand, it is true that the next step to take after the extraction of the raw material is to transform it. But in certain cases and if we talk about agriculture and own consumption, food passes from the earth to the table.

Secondary activities

It is based on the creation of new products from raw material obtained from the activity sector primary, to be able to market it, being able to be sold to shops or exported to different countries, among the most important industries in charge of this are:

Light industry

It is characterized by being more necessary the human work above the raw material, as well as they are usually closer to urban areas, which are based mostly on the creation of products to satisfy the need of simpler consumers.

Among these industries of secondary activities are manufacturers of shoes, clothing, food, toys, among others.

Light industries produce less amount of pollutants, due to the low amount of production compared to heavy.

Heavy industry

In this enters a great production process, especially of really large and heavy products, which require large spaces for their creation, which requires heavy machinery, a lot of human personnel and usually must be far from urban areas, although some are not.

These industries usually manufacture automobiles, airplanes, boats, heavy machinery, among others, which are aimed at the sale of other companies, for this reason they are characterized with the name of "heavy"

The pollution levels of these industries have caused great controversy at the social level, due to the deterioration they have caused in the environment, which has generated and may continue to generate the extinction of some species of animals and plants.

Tertiary activities

They focus on the services provided to society, in which some products generated thanks to primary and secondary activities end, which are mostly stores created with the purpose of selling products obtained from other sectors.

These activities are divided depending on the service they provide, such as:

• State services: These could include the government, legal entities, police, firefighters, cleaning services, education, among others, which are granted to the community by the state itself.
• Tourism services: such as hotels, maritime or air transport, tourist guides, which facilitate visits to places of which the user does not have knowledge.
• Health services: These may include hospitals, clinics, outpatient clinics, pharmacies, ambulances, among others that may or may not be related to the state, because in some countries these services are public and in others private.
• Communication services: such as telephone companies, the internet, and the post office.
• Financial Services: They are those destined to satisfy the economic needs of people, such as banks or moneylenders.
• Social welfare services: security and insurance companies could overshadow themselves among them.
• Recreation and entertainment: These services are intended solely for the enjoyment and distraction of people, which is just as necessary as any other, of which they can. Mention, cinemas, gaming establishments such as bowling, or miniature golf courses, casinos, water parks, among others.
• Online services: These include some new services that have been incorporated with technological progress, such as online shopping, online advice and all those that involve the use of the internet in between.
• Commercial services: refers to buying and selling services, such as stores for different products, or used car sales agencies, for example.

Primary, secondary and tertiary activities make up everything that involves the economic field, being of utmost importance for any nation and society.