People Engaged in Tertiary Activities

Most people today are service workers. This is the central fact of modern economies. Tertiary activities — the provision of services rather than the production of goods — now employ the majority of the workforce in nearly every country. But the pattern is not uniform across the world.

In more developed countries, a much higher percentage of workers is employed in providing services compared to less developed countries. For example, in nations like the United States, Japan, or Germany, over 70–80% of the workforce is in the tertiary sector. In contrast, in many developing countries, agriculture (primary sector) or manufacturing (secondary sector) still employs a larger share of people.

The trend in employment in this sector has been increasing steadily over time. Meanwhile, employment in primary activities (like farming, fishing, mining) and secondary activities (like factory work, construction) has either remained unchanged or has been decreasing. This shift is a key feature of economic development: as a country grows richer, its people move from working on farms and in factories to working in offices, shops, hospitals, schools, banks, and other service industries.

The reasons are straightforward. As agriculture and industry become more mechanised and efficient, they need fewer workers to produce the same output. At the same time, rising incomes and urbanisation create more demand for services — healthcare, education, transport, retail, entertainment, finance, and so on. So the service sector keeps growing, both in absolute numbers and as a share of total employment.

In short, the textbook makes three clear points about people engaged in tertiary activities:

• Most workers today are service workers — this is the dominant reality of the 21st-century economy. …