Classification of businesses — practice questions

Few primary jobs — agriculture/mining mechanised, limited openings.

Secondary declining relatively — some advanced manufacturing remains but automation (4.1.3) reduces headcount.

Tertiary dominates — retail, health, finance, tourism offer most vacancies — skills in customer service, digital, care valuable.

Quaternary growing — STEM, coding, R&D for higher-paid roles.

Business implication: Firms need training and HRM (2.1) for service-quality staff.

Part (a): Calculation for Tertiary Sector Contribution (2020)

Step 1: Calculate Total GDP in 2020. Total GDP = Primary GDP + Secondary GDP + Tertiary GDP Total GDP (2020) = $80 billion + $220 billion + $500 billion = $800 billion

Step 2: Calculate the percentage contribution of the tertiary sector. Formula: (Sector GDP / Total GDP) × 100 Tertiary Sector % = ($500 billion / $800 billion) × 100 Tertiary Sector % = 0.625 × 100 = 62.5%

Answer (a): The tertiary sector contributed 62.5% to Country Z's total GDP in 2020.

Part (b): Comment on Structural Change

Step 1: Calculate percentage contributions for 2010 for comparison. Total GDP (2010) = $100bn +$150bn + $250bn =$500bn

• Primary % (2010) = ($100bn /$500bn) × 100 = 20%
• Secondary % (2010) = ($150bn /$500bn) × 100 = 30%
• Tertiary % (2010) = ($250bn /$500bn) × 100 = 50%

Step 2: Compare 2010 and 2020 percentages.

• Primary Sector: Decreased from 20% to 10% (calculated as ($80bn/$800bn)*100).
• Secondary Sector: Decreased from 30% to 27.5% (calculated as ($220bn/$800bn)*100).
• Tertiary Sector: Increased significantly from 50% to 62.5%.

Conclusion: Country Z has experienced significant structural change. The economy has shifted away from the primary and secondary sectors towards the tertiary sector. The decline in the relative importance of both primary and secondary sectors, coupled with the strong growth of the service sector, is a classic sign of a developing economy maturing and moving towards a service-based model.