COLOMBIAN ECONOMIC SECTORS: PRIMARY, SECONDARY, TERTIARY - ECONOMY - 2024

The economic sectors of Colombia are divided into three: the primary sector or agricultural sector, the secondary sector or industrial sector and the tertiary sector or service provision sector.

This division and differentiation is in accordance with what is proposed by studies in classical economics. Each of these sectors has common economic activities within each group and differs from the others.

In other words, the categories are divided in this way according to the economic activities that are carried out in each one. This means that each sector has characteristics in common, has a unit and differs from the other sectors precisely because of the above.

In Colombia, according to the DANE (National Administrative Department of Statistics) of the total number of economic establishments that exist in the country, 48% correspond to commerce, 40% to the provision of services and 12% to industry.

For its part, DANE states that, of the national total of jobs in the economic sector, 51% are in service establishments, while 30% are in commerce and 19% are in industry.

According to classical economics, the primary sector and the secondary sector are considered as producers of tangible goods. This means that thanks to its operation, physical goods and products are obtained.

For its part, the tertiary sector, being services, does not produce tangible goods and is not considered a productive sector. However, it is necessary to clarify that, despite not producing tangible goods, the tertiary sector contributes to the formation of the product and national income.

In Colombia it is common that the economic sectors named by classical theory are not the only ones that exist. Economic activities tend to be differentiated into small groups according to the specialization of each one.

Because of this, there are other recognized economic sectors. Which are named below:

• Agricultural sector
• Service sector
• Industrial sector
• Transport sector
• Commerce sector
• Financial sector
• Construction sector
• Mining and energy sector
• Solidarity sector
• Communications sector

Types of sectors

Primary sector

The primary sector or agricultural sector of the economy includes all those economic activities related to obtaining products and goods directly from nature. In this sector, no type of transformation is carried out to the good or product obtained.

Within the economic activities that are grouped in the primary sector we find agriculture and the agricultural sector, understood as the set of tools, knowledge and activities carried out by human beings with the aim of obtaining vegetable products when grown.

Agriculture can vary depending on where it is developed. The tools, knowledge, approach and the goods and products obtained also vary, according to each geographical area.

In Colombia, for example, agriculture develops more strongly in certain departments, such as Valle del Cauca, the cradle of the largest sugar cane production in the entire country.

Agriculture constitutes one of the first technological advances developed by humanity. In ancient times, most of the human tribes were nomads. This means that they did not settle on any specific terrain and instead traveled long distances looking for food in hunting areas or gathering fruits from wild plants.

Thus, with the birth, boom and growth of agriculture, tribes of human beings were able to settle in a geographical location and develop from that site.

Along with agriculture, humans, around 11,500 years ago, began to herd and raise wild animals. Among the first animal species that were raised by humans are dogs, who helped in hunting tasks.

Colombia, thanks to its geographical location (it has coasts in both the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, in addition to having a large area of ​​land in the Amazon). In turn, the richness of its lands and the great climatic diversity, it is considered one of the world powers in agriculture.

In 2016, different Canadian, American and Israeli entities and companies visited the department of Valle del Cauca with a view to investing in the agricultural sector thanks to the conference held by scientist Juan Carlos Borrero Plaza, entitled “Colombia tropical power”.

Secondary sector

Within the economic activities included in the secondary sector we can find all those related to the industry.

The industrial sector, unlike the primary sector, where raw materials are obtained, is characterized by executing industrial procedures to transform said raw materials, goods or merchandise, into capital goods or products that can be consumed.

The secondary sector can be divided into two subsectors: On the one hand we find the extractive industrial sector.

This sector focuses on obtaining, collecting and extracting raw materials related to mining and oil. These two activities are not considered to belong to the primary sector despite the fact that they are processes in which the product, good or merchandise is not transformed at first.

On the other hand, there is the industrial transformation sector. This sector includes activities such as the manufacture of household appliances, the bottling of soft drinks and soft drinks, the manufacture and assembly of vehicles, construction, handicrafts, and obtaining energy, among others.

All those industries related to the manufacture of products and merchandise are considered part of the secondary sector. Manufacturing a raw material means turning it into a product. It is, again, a process of transformation.

There are companies that manufacture a part of the product and that add their work to a large chain that results in the merchandise, the good or the finished product. An example of this chain would be car or vehicle assembly.

According to the Colombian Chamber of Construction (Camacol), Colombia has closed the most recent years with a positive investment in construction. This is due, in large part, to the free housing projects that the government has implemented in recent terms and that have resulted in the construction and delivery of around 100,000 homes.

Added to this, the construction sector has also grown thanks to the implementation of construction projects for new highways and port infrastructure. Also, construction is part of one of the most important types of industries.

For these reasons, the construction sector, along with mining (Colombia being one of the countries with the highest export of emeralds), has some of the economic activities that have driven the highest growth rate.

Third sector

The tertiary sector of the economy groups together all those activities related to the provision of services.

Within this sector is not the realization or production of consumer goods or capital goods. In the tertiary sector, all activities that provide some service to the community, companies and people in general are presented.

Within the tertiary sector are activities such as telecommunications, transportation, medicine, education, commerce, tourism, government, the financial, administrative and health sectors.

All activities directly related to leisure, arts and culture are also included. Finally, it is necessary to clarify that trade is a service that is not only provided nationally, but also internationally in what is known as foreign trade.

Despite not producing goods by itself, the tertiary sector is characterized by being fundamental for the proper development of the economy, as it focuses on the distribution and consumption of goods, on the provision of personal services such as public services, health, education, among others.

Thanks to the organization and administration provided by the tertiary sector, the primary and secondary sectors can be more productive for Colombia.

Tertiary sector services in Colombia

Health

According to the CEER (Center for Regional Economic Studies), in Colombia, despite the great reform that has been carried out in health in recent years, there are still deficiencies and inequalities.

The report presented shows that the disparity in the provision of health services in Colombia is an issue that the government must address in the country's public health policy.

Thus, Law 100 of health introduced the concept of health as a commodity. This led to the appearance of private investors who obtain profits in the mediation process between citizens and the health service provider.

To this, it must be added that health, in Colombia, is not a service provided only by the state and public entities, but there is intervention and private investment, which seeks to profit.

Commerce

The tertiary sector groups activities related to trade, thus being wholesale and retail trade. The activities of exchanging products for money carried out in market places, shopping centers, «San Andresitos«, among others.

The "San Andresitos" are places where commercial activity is carried out with products and merchandise. They are almost always located in the center of the city and are establishments where products are obtained at a lower value than in other establishments such as shopping centers.

In some cases, the products have a lower price because they are contraband or illegal, since they have not paid the corresponding taxes at customs.

These places are called "San Andresitos" because the products and merchandise that arrived on the island of San Andrés, in the Colombian Caribbean, were cheaper due to the low taxes that were applied to them.

Transport

The transport service is part of the tertiary sector. Within this category we find the transportation of passengers by sea, land or air.

In addition, there is also freight transport, public transport, among others. In Colombia, the transportation service in large cities has different options. On the one hand, there are the mass transport systems that are articulated in large networks of buses and stations connected to each other, covering the vast majority of the urban territory.

The "Transmilenio" in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, is an example of this type of mass transportation system open to the public. On the other hand, there are cities like Medellín that have an elevated Metro system. These services are financed by mixed funds, which include private and public investment.

Communications

The economic activities related to the provision of the communication service include not only mobile and fixed telephone companies, the provision of internet service, but also companies dedicated to the media, including radio, press, television and the new virtual screens.

In addition, companies, entities and companies related to advertising and publishers are included.

References

1. Cultural Submanagement of the Bank of the Republic. (2015). Economic sectors. Recovered from: banrepcultural.org.
2. Oxford Business Club. TheReport: Colombia 2016 (2016) Recovered from oxfordbusinessgroup.com.
3. (March 2017) Agriculture. Recovered from nationalgeographic.org.
4. Bank of the Republic. Jaime Bonet-Morón, Karelys Guzmán-Finol (August 2015) A regional analysis of health in Colombia. Recovered from banrep.gov.co.
5. Oxford Business Club. TheReport: Colombia 2016 (2016) Industry & Retail Recovered from oxfordbusinessgroup.com.
6. Oxford Business Club. The Report: Colombia 2016 (2016) Health. Recovered from oxfordbusinessgroup.com.
7. Nations Encyclopedia. (2017) Colombia- EconomicSectors. Recovered from nationsencyclopedia.com.