Editing Secondary sector of the economy

{{Short description|Manufacturing and construction industries}}
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{{Update|reason=The role of the secondary sector in promoting economic growth and development has diminished in the last decades, as a result of automatization. Very few people work in manufacturing if compared with half a century or a century ago.|date=April 2025}}
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{{Economic sectors}}

In [[macroeconomics]], the '''secondary sector of the economy''' is an [[economic sector]] in the [[Three-sector model|three-sector theory]] that describes the role of [[manufacturing]]. It encompasses [[Industry (economics)|industries]] that [[Production (economics)|produce]] a finished, usable [[Product (business)|product]] or are involved in [[construction]].

This sector generally takes the output of the [[Primary sector of the economy|primary sector]] (i.e. [[raw material]]s like metals, wood) and creates [[finished goods]] suitable for sale to domestic [[business]]es or [[consumer]]s and for [[export]] (via distribution through the [[Tertiary sector of the economy|tertiary sector]]). Many of these industries consume large quantities of energy, require [[Factory|factories]] and use machinery; they are often classified as [[light industry|light]] or [[heavy industry|heavy]] based on such quantities. This also produces [[waste]] materials and [[waste heat]] that may cause environmental problems or [[pollution]] (see [[Externality|negative externalities]]). Examples include [[Textile industry|textile production]], [[Automotive industry|car manufacturing]], and [[handicraft]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/secondary-sector.html |title=What is secondary sector? Definition and meaning - BusinessDictionary.com |access-date=2020-07-14 |archive-date=2020-08-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805141751/http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/secondary-sector.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Manufacturing is an important activity in promoting [[economic growth]] and [[Economic development|development]]. Nations that export manufactured products tend to generate higher marginal [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] growth, which supports higher [[income]]s and therefore marginal [[tax revenue]] needed to fund such government expenditures as [[health care]] and [[infrastructure]]. Among [[Developed country|developed countries]], it is an important source of well-paying jobs for the [[middle class]] (e.g., engineering) to facilitate greater [[social mobility]] for successive generations on the economy. Currently,{{When|date=January 2025}} an estimated 20% of the [[labor force]] in the United States is involved in the secondary industry.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.marketing91.com/?s=Secondary+Industry%3A+Meaning%2C+Types%2C+Characteristics%2C+and+Examples |title=Secondary Industry: Meaning, Types, Characteristics, and Examples}}</ref>

The secondary sector depends on the primary sector for the raw materials necessary for production. Countries that primarily produce [[agriculture|agricultural]] and other raw materials (i.e., [[Primary sector of the economy|primary sector]]) tend to grow slowly and remain either [[under-developed]] or [[developing economies]]. The value added through the transformation of raw materials into finished goods reliably generates greater [[profitability]], which underlies the faster growth of [[developed economies]].

{{Bar chart
| float       = center
| title       = 20 largest countries by industrial output (PPP-adjusted, billion [[United States dollar|USD]]) according to the [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]] and [[The World Factbook|CIA World Factbook]], at peak level as of 2020:{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}
| table_width = 70
| bar_width   = 50 <!-- must be an unformatted number -->
| data_max    = 12,000<!-- Upper bound on the values in the data fields -->
| label_type  = Economy
| data_type   = {{center|Industrial output}}
| label1      = (01) '''{{CHN}}''' | data1 = 11,261<!-- Peak in 2020 -->
| label2      = (—) '''''{{EU}}''''' | data2 = 5,729<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label3      = (02) '''{{USA}}''' | data3 = 4,093<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label4      = (03) '''{{IND}}''' | data4 = 2,604<!-- Peak in 2020 -->
| label5      = (04) '''{{JPN}}''' | data5 = 1,719<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label6      = (05) '''{{IDN}}''' | data6 = 1,549<!-- Peak in 2020 -->
| label7      = (06) '''{{RUS}}''' | data7 = 1,422<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label8      = (07) '''{{GER}}''' | data8 = 1,364<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label9      = (08) '''{{KOR}}''' | data9 = 912<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label10     = (09) '''{{KSA}}''' | data10 = 840<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label11     = (10) '''{{MEX}}''' | data11 = 835<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label12     = (11) '''{{TUR}}''' | data12 = 763<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label13     = (12) '''{{BRA}}''' | data13 = 720<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label14     = {{nowrap|(13) '''{{GBR}}'''}} | data14 = 639<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label15     = (14) '''{{FRA}}''' | data15 = 597<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label16     = (15) '''{{ITA}}''' | data16 = 587<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label17     = (16) '''{{IRN}}''' | data17 = 578<!-- Peak in 2017 -->
| label18     = (17) '''{{CAN}}''' | data18 = 537<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label19     = (18) '''{{POL}}''' | data19 = 517<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label20     = (19) '''{{THA}}''' | data20 = 499<!-- Peak in 2019 -->
| label21     = (20) '''{{EGY}}''' | data21 = 490<!-- Peak in 2020 -->
| caption     = {{resize|88%|The twenty largest countries by industrial output (in [[purchasing power parity|PPP]] terms) at peak level as of 2020, according to the [[International Monetary Fund|IMF]] and [[The World Factbook|CIA World Factbook]].}}{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}
}}

== See also ==
*[[List of countries by manufacturing output]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Industries}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Secondary sector of the economy| ]]
[[Category:Economic sectors|+2]]
[[Category:Private sector|+2]]

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