Glossary (Version 8.4)

An area of a business operation. Businesses operate in the primary, secondary and tertiary industry sectors. The primary industry produces goods through the use and extraction of natural resources (for example, agriculture and mining). The secondary industry is concerned with converting primary industry materials into finished goods (for example, manufacturing, textiles and food). The tertiary industry provides services (for example, information, tourism and telecommunications).

A joint dependence between participants in an economy; that is, the reliance of consumers, workers, businesses and governments on each other. In modern economies, people tend to specialise in the production of a good or service, and trade that item for another that they could not provide or produce for themselves.