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GCSE Geography 04 — Economic Activity and Energy

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Topics include Economic sectors and employment structure, Development and inequality: measuring and comparing places, Globalisation, trade, and TNCs, Industrial location factors and changing economies, Urbanisation, megacities, and urban economies, Energy demand and the energy mix, Fossil fuels: advantages, disadvantages, and impacts, and Renewable energy: solar, wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass.

Geography EN
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Economic sectors and employment structure

Economic activity is often grouped into sectors, and countries change their employment structure as they develop. Understanding sectors helps explain job patterns and regional change.

Key points

  • Primary sector: extracting raw materials (farming, fishing, mining).
  • Secondary sector: manufacturing and construction.
  • Tertiary sector: services (retail, healthcare, transport).
  • Quaternary sector: information/knowledge services (IT, research).
  • As countries develop, employment often shifts from primary → secondary → tertiary/quaternary.

Worked example

Question

Explain why a high-income country may have a small primary sector but a large tertiary sector.

Solution

In high-income countries, farming and extraction are highly mechanised, so fewer workers are needed in the primary sector. Higher incomes also increase demand for services such as healthcare, education, finance, entertainment and tourism. Many jobs are created in these tertiary industries, so the tertiary sector becomes the largest employer.

Common pitfalls

  • Thinking sectors are 'good/bad' rather than different types of activity.
  • Confusing tertiary (services) with secondary (manufacturing).
  • Assuming all HICs have no manufacturing (they may have high-value manufacturing but fewer workers).

Prerequisites

  • Prerequisite knowledge (auto-added).
  • Prerequisite knowledge (auto-added).
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