1. The “levels” of an Economy
Economic Activities
The “levels” of an
Economy

2. The Four Levels of Activities
Economic activities can be divided into 4 groups or “levels.”
Primary Activities
Secondary Activities
Tertiary Activities
Quaternary Activities

3. Primary Activities
Primary Activities are those that produce the raw materials necessary for the other activities.
Mining. Agriculture, and Forestry etc are primary activities
Primary activities produce goods.

4. Secondary Activities
Secondary activities add value by changing the form of the products of primary activities.
For example: Wood is made into a Chair
Factories, workshops etc do secondary activities
The products of secondary activities are goods

5. Tertiary Activities
Tertiary activities distribute the goods produced by primary and secondary activities.
They also provide services.
Businessmen and professionals such as teachers doctors and lawyers do tertiary activities

6. Quaternary Activities
Quaternary activities include management and the creation of information
The ‘boss’ at a factory or the Vice President of a company are doing Quaternary activities.
So is a scientist doing research.

7. Natural Resources
Natural Resources are the materials that naturally occur and are used for economic activities.
They can be:
Renewable resources are replaced through natural processes. Such as trees and fish.
Non-renewable resources are not replaced.
Inexhaustable resources never run out
These are mostly energy sources such as sunlight and wind power

8. Infrastructure
The Infrastructure of a nation is the basic systems that support the economic activities. These include: Roads, Bridges, Schools, communications etc. Without a good infrastructure economic activities are difficult if not impossible to accomplish.