Primary

In 2003, agriculture contributed £418 million to Welsh GVA, or 1.1% (including subsidies).^[14] 1.6m hectares (around 77% of Wales' total land area) is used for agricultural production and an estimated 57,500 people are directly employed in the sector.^[14] Farming is dominated by beef, sheep and the dairy sector, with the arable sector accounting for 10% of agricultural output.^[14] Average farm size is 30-40 hectares, small by UK standards, and dominated by family-run enterprises.^[14]

Forest and woodland makes up 14% of the land area of Wales and there are 4,000 jobs in forest-based industries.^[14]

The Welsh fishing industry is the smallest in the UK with approximately 1,000 full-time fishermen and a further 400 working on a part-time basis.^[14] The minor role that the Welsh industry holds is largely due to its geographical isolation, weak distribution networks and the demise of the Wales distant-water fleet from the 1960s onwards.^[14]

Secondary

Wales has a diverse manufacturing sector.^[2] Heavy industry, once a mainstay of the Welsh economy has largely been in decline over the past century but is still very apparent. Metal ore refining is a long established industry in Wales. As of 2007, Corus has manufacturing facilities at Port Talbot, Llanwern, Newport, Trostre, Shotton, Ammanford, Pontardulais, Tafarnaubach and Caerphilly, although only the Port Talbot Steelworks remains as a major integrated steelmaking plant.^[12] Nearly all the tinplate and much of the aluminium produced in the UK are made in Welsh plants.^[2]

Milford Haven has two oil refineries which represent around a fifth of United Kingdom capacity.^[2]

Wales is an important producer of automotive components: Ford has a major engine plant at Bridgend and BorgWarner has a major components plant in Kenfig, South Wales.

Timet has a plant in Waunarlwydd, Swansea, which is one of the world's major suppliers of titanium for jet engine blades and medical applications.^[13]

During the 1980s and 1990s, a major growth sector in manufacturing was the electronics industry with over 130 North American and 35 Japanese companies establishing operations in Wales.^[2] However, this is a characteristic of a 'branch factory' economy where routine production is located in one region while higher skill activities are located in another.^[5]

Tertiary

In recent years, the service sector in Wales has seen above average growth, however, in 2005 it still contributed a small share of GVA compared with most other regions of the UK.^[2] Wales does not have a favourable occupational structure, and a relatively high proportion of jobs are in public administration, health and education.^[8] Compared to more prosperous parts of the UK, Wales lacks high-value added service sector employment in sectors such as finance, business services and research and development.^[9] This is attributable in part to a comparative lack of agglomeration effects, caused by the small size of towns and cities in Wales compared to some other UK regions and small countries.^[5][10]

With its mountainous landscape and numerous sandy beaches, Wales attracts significant tourism. In 2002, nearly 13 million trips of one night or more were made in Wales, generating expenditure of £1.8 billion. 11.9 million of these trips were made by UK residents with 0.9 million coming from overseas.^[2] Cardiff is the most popular destination for visitors to Wales, with 11.7 million visitors in 2006

The economy of Northern Ireland is the smallest of the four countries in the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland has traditionally had an industrial economy, most notably in shipbuilding, rope manufacture and textiles, but most heavy industry has since been replaced by services. To this day, Northern Ireland still suffers from the results of the Troubles which occurred between the late 1960s until the mid-1990s.

Agriculture in Northern Ireland is heavily mechanised, thanks to high labour costs and heavy capital investment, both from private investors and the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy. In 2000, agriculture accounted for 2.4% of economic output in Northern Ireland, compared to 1% in the United Kingdom as a whole.^[10] As in the rest of the United Kingdom, livestock and dairy account for the majority of agricultural output. The main crops are (in descending order of value) potatoes, barley, and wheat.