Geo 2026: Job sectors and the Clark-Fisher model

Primary: extracting raw materials from the land or sea, such as farming, fishing and mining. Most important in low-income countries (LICs), as it needs the least technology, skills and money.
Secondary: manufacturing, turning raw materials into products, such as car factories and construction. It grows in LICs and newly emerging economies (NEEs) as money from the primary sector and foreign investment (such as Shell in Nigeria) build factories. Car factories are built where there is plenty of land, transport and housing for workers.
Tertiary: services, such as tourism, teaching, nursing and shops. Dominant in NEEs and HICs, for example Dubai.
Quaternary: research and information, such as scientists and IT. Mostly in high-income countries (HICs) with high education and technology.

Also called the sector model, it shows how employment changes as a country develops.
Pre-industrial: the primary sector is the largest employer (for example about 70% of jobs).
Industrial: the secondary sector grows as factories are built (peaking at about 40 to 45%), while primary jobs fall.
Post-industrial: the tertiary sector becomes dominant (over half of jobs); the quaternary sector appears and grows.

A developing country has many primary jobs and few tertiary jobs.
An emerging country has a large and growing secondary sector.
A developed country has most people in the tertiary sector and a growing quaternary sector, with few primary jobs.
In the exam, quote the figures from the graph or table, compare them (for example 'three times as many'), then link them to the country's level of development.

The Clark-Fisher model tells the story of how jobs change as a country gets richer.
Stage 1, pre-industrial: most people farm, fish or mine (primary). This needs little money, technology or education, so it dominates in low-income countries.
Stage 2, industrial: money from selling raw materials, and foreign investment, is used to build factories. Jobs in manufacturing (secondary) rise, while machines mean fewer farm workers are needed.
Stage 3, post-industrial: people earn more and want services such as shops, schools, hospitals and tourism, so tertiary jobs become the largest group. Factory work falls as it is automated or moved abroad, and research and IT jobs (quaternary) appear.
Example: the UK followed this path, moving from farming to factories and coal, and now most people work in services. Dubai is a tertiary economy built on tourism, trade and finance.

Putting construction in the wrong sector: building is secondary, because it makes something, not a service.
Saying primary jobs disappear in rich countries: they become a small share, but farming and fishing still exist.
Describing a graph without numbers: quote figures from the resource and compare them, for example 'three times as many'.
Only describing, not explaining: after saying which sector is largest, link it to the level of development with 'because'.
Forgetting the quaternary sector: it appears in the post-industrial stage and is mostly in HICs.

Your notes include a line graph of the Clark-Fisher model with four lines: primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary. Reading the values from that graph (they are approximate):
Primary: starts at about 70% in the pre-industrial stage and falls steadily to about 10% in the post-industrial stage.
Secondary: starts at about 20%, rises to a peak of about 45% at the industrial stage, then falls to about 30%.
Tertiary: starts at about 10% and rises to about 55%, becoming the largest sector.
Quaternary: only appears in the post-industrial stage and stays small (a few per cent).
Crossovers: the tertiary line overtakes the primary line around the industrial stage, and then overtakes the secondary line between the industrial and post-industrial stages.
How to describe it in an exam: name the line, quote a start and end value with %, describe the shape (rises, peaks, falls), point out where lines cross, then link each change to a reason (mechanisation, industrialisation, rising incomes).