7.7 Deindustrialization

What is Deindustrialization?

Deindustrialization is the decline of manufacturing and industrial activity in a region or country, often shifting the economy toward services (tertiary/quaternary sectors). It commonly occurs in core countries as manufacturing relocates to peripheral or semi-peripheral countries seeking cheaper labor, leaving former industrial regions with job losses and economic decline.

Causes and Global Shifts

Causes include rising labor costs, automation, outdated infrastructure, and globalization, which allows firms to seek cheaper production sites abroad via outsourcing and offshoring. Regions like the U.S. Rust Belt lost steel and auto jobs to countries like China and Mexico, illustrating a shift in the new international division of labor.

Consequences for Places

Deindustrialization creates economic decline, population loss, and abandoned factories (brownfields) in former industrial hubs. Some regions attempt economic restructuring—shifting toward technology, tourism, or services—while others experience persistent poverty and out-migration. This uneven impact deepens core-periphery disparities within and between countries.

Key terms

Deindustrialization

The decline of manufacturing/industrial activity in a region, often shifting economy toward services.

Rust Belt

U.S. region (Midwest/Northeast) that lost steel and auto manufacturing jobs due to deindustrialization.

Offshoring/Outsourcing

Relocating production or jobs to another country, usually for cheaper labor costs.

Brownfields

Abandoned, often contaminated former industrial sites left after factories close.

Economic restructuring

Shifting a region's economy from manufacturing toward services, technology, or tourism after deindustrialization.

Try an AP-style question

Deindustrialization refers to…

1. the growth of farms in a region
2. the decline of manufacturing in a region
3. the rise of new factories in a region
4. new mining operations in a region