Economic Activities

Economic activity looks at industry, jobs and how the population of a country or the world earns wealth. Changes in this sector have caused people around the world to become more connected regionally and internationally. Many of these changes have significant effect on Caribbean people and its economy.The way in which products and services are made or created is termed as industry. For example, the fashion industry includes all those businesses and people involved in making clothes, from designers to factory workers and retailers.

Classification of Industries

All economic activities can be grouped or classified into different types of industries or sectors. These are primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary activities or primary industries are those that take the natural resources out of the earth. That is, they make direct uses of the earth’s resources. For that they are called extractive industries. Examples include fishing, forestry, mining and quarrying. Some primary industries produce goods that can be used directly as they are such as fishing and fruits. For example the fishermen go to sea and come back with the fish they sell directly to the market. Other primary industries provide raw materials for other industries. For example, oil from Trinidad and Tobago is exported in the USA to make petroleum products.

Secondary activities or secondary industries are involved in the production of processed goods such as clothes and cement. They include all the manufacturing industries which produce processed and assembled goods. Some manufacturing industries use raw materials produced in the primary industries such as canning fruits, freezing fish or making cement from limestone. Others assemble or re-process goods made by manufacturing industries for example, a garment factory or a car factory. Construction and utilities industries are also classes as secondary industries. Secondary industries are also known as manufacturing industries.

Tertiary activities or tertiary industries are those that provide a service. They do not produce anything which you can pick up and take away. Because of this they are known as service industry. Tertiary industries include employment in education, health, the police and fire brigade, public transport local government, banking and finance. Tourism and retailing (all types of selling) are the largest employers in the tertiary industry in the Caribbean.

Quaternary activities or quaternary industries are those concerned with information. It takes into account the acquisition, manipulation and transmission of information. Institutions such as law firms, finance and education, research and media will fall into this category. This sector of industry is sometimes described as an extension to the tertiary sector because they provide services. The main difference however, is that quaternary industries concentrate on those industries that provide information and expertise.

With the changing economies, it is important to focus on all three sectors of industries. Previously in the middle of the twentieth century, the Caribbean depended on primary industries and mainly agriculture industry which largely produced sugar, banana and nutmeg. Subsistence farming was also done but mainly provided food for families and contributed little to the economy. However with countries becoming more economically developed, importance is placed on different types of activities. These include:

Garment manufacturing in St. Kitts-Nevis, food and drink processing in Jamaica, electrical good production in Barbados and cement manufacturing in Guadeloupe.

Tourism in Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Dominica Republic, Cuba and many other Caribbean islands.

Financial services in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Netherlands Antilles.

Most countries also developed their health and education services as they become richer.

With importance placed on the three sectors of industries the economy benefits a lot. A wide range of jobs are created in different areas, countries earn foreign exchange currency, such as US dollars, Euros and UK pounds and also revenue or money is gained for the government. With emphasis placed on the different industries, one type isn't exploited and revenue is earned from different sectors.