Question

Explain the secondary sector in brief.

Answer 1

The secondary sector consists of activities concerned with the production of products from natural resources. It takes the output of the primary sector as raw materials and involves manufacturing and construction industries. Examples include steel making, shipbuilding, pottery, oil refining, carpentry, house building, and plastic manufacturing. This sector is also called the industrial sector because it depends on the primary sector’s products. For instance, the iron and steel industry requires iron ore and coal obtained from the primary sector.

Manufacturing industries in the secondary sector may be classified as analytical (breaking raw material into useful materials), synthetical (mixing materials to form new products), processing (converting raw materials into finished products through various stages), and assembling (combining parts to make a new product).