NCERT Book Class 6 Social Science Economic Activities Around Us PDF Download

Chapter 14: Economic Activities Around Us

The root of prosperity is economic activity, the lack of it brings material distress. The absence of fruitful economic activity endangers both current prosperity and future growth.

- Kautilya's Arthashastra

Introduction

In Chapter 13, we learnt about two types of activities - economic and non-economic. Activities that create monetary value are called economic activities. We also learnt about the importance of non-economic activities. To understand these activities better we will learn how economic activities are classified and what differentiates them in this chapter.

The Big Questions

1. How are economic activities classified?
2. What differentiates these activities to be grouped into sectors?
3. How are the three sectors interconnected?

Over the decades, the number of economic activities has increased tremendously. For example, earlier most people were involved in activities such as agriculture, livestock rearing, production of tools, pottery and weaving cloth. As societies progressed, the number of economic activities through which people earn their livelihoods increased vastly.

Today, there are diverse economic activities such as manufacturing computers, mobile phones and drones; working in banks, schools and hotels; driving various types of vehicles for transportation; making furniture; tailoring clothes using machines; creating software; repairing refrigerators and washing machines; etc. Classifying all these activities helps us to understand how they function and the links they have with each other.

The Classification of Economic Activities into Economic Sectors

Some economic activities share similar characteristics and based on this, they can be grouped together or classified into broader groups called economic sectors. The three main types of economic sectors are primary, secondary and tertiary economic sectors.

The illustration on the facing page maps out the broad activities under these categories.

A. Primary activities

Those economic activities in which people are directly dependent on nature to produce goods are known as primary activities or primary sector economic activities.

Teacher's Note

Remember that "primary" means people work directly with nature or natural resources. If you see a job description and wonder which sector it belongs to, ask yourself: is someone extracting or harvesting something directly from nature? If yes, it is primary sector.

[Figure: Classification of economic activities into economic sectors showing primary sector (agriculture, mining, fishing, raising livestock, forestry), secondary sector (construction, manufacturing, water supply, solar power, electricity production), and tertiary sector (healthcare, trade and logistics, communication, banking, transportation), See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

The three sectors work together like a chain: primary sector gives raw materials, secondary sector converts them into products, and tertiary sector delivers those products to you. Try tracing the journey of a cotton shirt from the field to your wardrobe to see all three sectors at work.

Key Points

• Economic activities are grouped into three main sectors: primary, secondary and tertiary, based on the type of work and resources used.
• Primary sector activities involve extracting raw materials directly from nature, such as farming, fishing and mining.
• Secondary sector activities transform raw materials into finished goods through manufacturing and construction.
• Tertiary sector activities provide services to people, such as healthcare, banking, transportation and communication.
• All three sectors are interconnected and depend on each other to support the economy of a nation.

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