By 1990, 42.4 per cent of Taiwan's total population was concentrated in the Northern region and 29.6 per cent was in the Southern region. Employment Total employment in Taiwan increased from 2.9 million in 1952 to 8.3 million in 1990. It grew at an annual rate of 2.8 per cent, slightly faster than the population growth rate of 2.5 per cent, during the period 1953-1990. Among industries, employment in secondary industry grew the fastest, increasing 5.2 per cent annually during the same period. The main source of growth in industrial employment was growth in manufacturing jobs, which increased 5.4 per cent annually.
Primary industry includes agriculture, forestry, fishery, and poultry and lifestock raising.
Secondary industry includes mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas and water, and construction. Tertiary industry includes such services as commerce, transport, and storage, communications, finance, insurance, real estate, and business services, and community, social, and personal services. Changes in the economic structure during the past four decades have led to a sharp decrease in agriculture's share of total employment, to only 13 per cent in 1990. The increase in secondary industry's share of employment has been due to growth in manufacturing employment. Manufacturing is the most important subsector of secondary industry, and its contribution to employment has been very significant.