In macroeconomics, an industry consists of a closely-knit group of goods, services, or raw materials produced by a small number of producers. For instance, one may refer to the manufacturing industry or to the banking industry. Within an industry, there are usually four stages: start-up, expansion, contraction, and stabilization. In business management, the stage of the life cycle of an industry generally refers to one’s ability to generate profits for the company through efficient utilization of its existing resources. It also takes into account the company’s future potential for profits from new markets and ventures.
One example of a secondary industry involves the processing of materials e.g. aluminum ore and oil, petroleum e.g. fuel oil, wood and paper, iron ores, and other raw materials e.g. coal and rock. Primary industries, on the other hand, typically involve the extraction, refining, and marketing of essential products such as oil, gas, electricity, gold, silver, platinum, and certain minerals.
A few industries fall into both primary and secondary product categories. These include agriculture, forestry, fishing, construction, transportation, and tourism, and financial, information, and engineering industries. The classification system presented in the following figure illustrates the broadness of the consumer goods industries.