Business – 1.2 Business structure – Economic sectors | e-Consult

The decline of the primary sector can be attributed to several inter‑related factors:

• Technological advancement: Mechanisation, automation and improved agricultural techniques have dramatically increased output per worker, reducing the labour needed.
• Economic development: As incomes rise, consumer demand shifts towards manufactured goods and services, encouraging resources to move into secondary and tertiary activities.
• Globalisation: Imports of raw materials and food from lower‑cost producers make domestic primary production less competitive.
• Policy and investment focus: Government incentives often target industrial and service innovation, diverting capital away from agriculture and mining.
• Urbanisation: Population movement to cities reduces the rural workforce available for primary activities.