Secondary and tertiary sectors
Information from Focus Geography Grade 12
The contribution of secondary and tertiary sectors to South
Africa’s economy
• South Africa is by far the leading manufacturing country in Africa in terms of
manufactured goods produced and exported, and of the percentage of its labour
force employed in industry. It also has the most advanced service sector on this
continent.
• The secondary and tertiary sectors of South Africa’s economy are both larger than the
primary sector in terms of the value of their output and the value of their
contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP).
• These two sectors are concentrated in urban areas, while most of the primary sector
is in rural areas and small mining towns.
Secondary Sector
Secondary activities involve the processing of raw materials and manufacturing of goods.
Manufacturing is by far the largest category of employment in the secondary sector. It is an
extremely important activity because:
• manufacturing processes turn raw materials into usable goods
• the human skills used in manufacturing increase the value of the raw materials
• manufacturing employs more people than any other formal economic activity.
The tertiary sector
The work done by people in the tertiary sector facilitates the work of the people in the
primary and secondary sectors.
The tertiary sector shows the greatest growth. This is because
• South Africa is developing a more mature economy
• the expansion of government employment, including an increase from four provincial
governments to nine after 1995
• increasing levels of education enable more people to move into tertiary jobs
• the official data for tertiary sector activities also includes the quaternary sector
• some of the apparent growth of the tertiary sector is relative to decline in the primary
and secondary sectors.
, Types of industries
Information from Focus Geography Grade 12
The contribution of secondary and tertiary sectors to South
Africa’s economy
• South Africa is by far the leading manufacturing country in Africa in terms of
manufactured goods produced and exported, and of the percentage of its labour
force employed in industry. It also has the most advanced service sector on this
continent.
• The secondary and tertiary sectors of South Africa’s economy are both larger than the
primary sector in terms of the value of their output and the value of their
contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP).
• These two sectors are concentrated in urban areas, while most of the primary sector
is in rural areas and small mining towns.
Secondary Sector
Secondary activities involve the processing of raw materials and manufacturing of goods.
Manufacturing is by far the largest category of employment in the secondary sector. It is an
extremely important activity because:
• manufacturing processes turn raw materials into usable goods
• the human skills used in manufacturing increase the value of the raw materials
• manufacturing employs more people than any other formal economic activity.
The tertiary sector
The work done by people in the tertiary sector facilitates the work of the people in the
primary and secondary sectors.
The tertiary sector shows the greatest growth. This is because
• South Africa is developing a more mature economy
• the expansion of government employment, including an increase from four provincial
governments to nine after 1995
• increasing levels of education enable more people to move into tertiary jobs
• the official data for tertiary sector activities also includes the quaternary sector
• some of the apparent growth of the tertiary sector is relative to decline in the primary
and secondary sectors.
, Types of industries
