Three-sector Division of the European Economy in the Perception of the Inhabitants

The research objective of the article was to answer the question of the perceiving of economic sectors with the European countries. Survey-based research, conducted in 2005–2016, covered about 1000 respondents from 7 European countries. The differentiation of perceptions were analyzed on two levels: spatial (7 cities in 7 countries) and time (2005–2007 compared to 2016). It was established that industry and services are associated with the largest European economies, while agriculture is most often associated with the country of origin of the respondent. Research has shown the impact of spatial stereotypes on the perception of industry and the importance of agro-landscape on the perception of agriculture. It has been established in the paper that the perceptions of the economic sectors relate much more to “Western-Centrism” than to their importance in European economies. There were no significant changes in the perception of the sectoral division of the economy between 2005 and 2016.