The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining.[1][2][3]
The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in developing countries than it does in developed countries. For example, in 2018, agriculture, forestry, and fishing comprised more than 15% of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa[4] but less than 1% of GDP in North America.[5]
In developed countries the primary sector has become more technologically advanced, enabling for example the mechanization of farming, as compared with lower-tech methods[a] in poorer countries.[6] More developed economies may invest additional capital in primary means of production: for example, in the United States corn belt, combine harvesters pick 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 allow the primary sector to employ a smaller workforce, so 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.[7]
| Economy |
Countries by agricultural output (in PPP terms) at peak level as of 2018 (billions in USD)
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(01)  China
|
| ||||||||
(02)  India
|
| ||||||||
(03)  Indonesia
|
| ||||||||
(—)  European Union
|
| ||||||||
(04)  Pakistan
|
| ||||||||
(05)  Nigeria
|
| ||||||||
(06)  Brazil
|
| ||||||||
(07)  Russia
|
| ||||||||
(08)  United States
|
| ||||||||
(09)  Iran
|
| ||||||||
(10)  Turkey
|
| ||||||||
(11)  Egypt
|
| ||||||||
(12)  Thailand
|
| ||||||||
(13)  Vietnam
|
| ||||||||
(14)  Bangladesh
|
| ||||||||
(15)  Argentina
|
| ||||||||
(16)  Mexico
|
| ||||||||
(17)  Philippines
|
| ||||||||
(18)  Myanmar
|
| ||||||||
(19)  Algeria
|
| ||||||||
(20)  Malaysia
|
| ||||||||
|
The twenty largest countries by agricultural output (in PPP terms) at peak level as of 2018, according to the IMF and CIA World Factbook. | |||||||||
Media related to Primary sector of the economy at Wikimedia Commons
