In Germany, the disparities between the western and eastern federal states (cf. 70.1, 71.2-3) still go back to the different political and economic developments in the decades before reunification in 1990.
A comparison of the gross domestic product per resident with the importance of the respective economic sectors (cf. 100.1) shows that a high proportion of those employed in agriculture is generally associated with low economic and purchasing power, while in regions with a strong emphasis on services it is often significantly higher Production and income levels prevail. However, this cannot be generalized.
On the one hand, the respective natural spatial conditions had a decisive influence on the economic structure in the various parts of Europe, but even more so did the historical, political and economic influences and developments since the beginning of the industrial age. Since there are considerable differences in productivity between the individual economic sectors, the respective shares of the workforce in agriculture, industry and services provide indications of both past and future developments.
SPATIAL POLARIZATION
The agricultural regions with a high proportion of employed persons in the primary sector are mostly in the peripheral locations on the outer edges of the EU. The industrial regions with a still considerable share of employees in the secondary sector, on the other hand, benefit from the locational advantages of their central location in the heart of the EU. The locations of the – in itself heterogeneous – tertiary sector, which is of particular importance with regard to the structural change in the regional employment situation, are increasingly more evenly distributed. Important branches of the service sector such as financial services, consulting, science, public and private administrations are particularly concentrated in metropolitan areas and national decision-making centers. For more information about the continent of Europe, please check businesscarriers.com.