# 3 largest industries in the world: Sex, Drugs, Weapons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2005, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396 "2005-01-24T10:50:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/1 "2005-01-24T10:50:13Z")
I keep hearing this factoid, but it’s never expanded on and I don’t know how one is supposed to count. First of, is it including illegal activities. Is sex refering both to legit, if seedy activities such as porn and, certain devices? Does it include prostitution? Are drugs just farmaceuticals, or are narcotics part of it. Is non rx stuff included, like vitamin pills. Weapons - handguns and stealthfighters? Can any of these industries be bigger than the power companies, petroleum, automobiles, consumer electronics? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/2 "2005-01-24T14:22:43Z")
Many have cover several of your categories. Skoka - cars & weapons Daewoo - cars, weapons, consumer electronics Remington - weapons & consumer electronics I don’t know of any examples of a company making weapons AND phamraceuticals (talk about playing both sides of the street!), but there may be some. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/3 "2005-01-24T14:25:47Z")
There is no natural division of activities into industries. If one defined the economy as consisting of 4 industries (sex, drugs, weapons and all other), “all other” would be the largest. This would obviously be merely an artifact of the classification scheme. If you based the comparison on seven digit input output categories, the biggest industry would still be an artifact of the classification scheme. ---
**Author:** ![LucyInDisguise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucyindisguise/32/18064_2.png) [@LucyInDisguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucyInDisguise)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/4 "2005-01-24T14:30:18Z")
Organized Crime can’t even come close to the earning power of Organized Religion … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/5 "2005-01-24T16:20:11Z")
> [@hawthorne](#): > > There is no natural division of activities into industries. If one defined the economy as consisting of 4 industries (sex, drugs, weapons and all other), “all other” would be the largest. This would obviously be merely an artifact of the classification scheme. If you based the comparison on seven digit input output categories, the biggest industry would still be an artifact of the classification scheme. Well, yeah… But is, e.g. farmaceuticals (incl. narcotics) bigger than the automobile industry, in total revenue? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/6 "2005-01-24T16:42:46Z")
> [@LucyInDisguise](#): > > Organized Crime can’t even come close to the earning power of Organized Religion … 😃 But, as Woody Allen said… > [@](#): > > Organized crime in America takes in over forty billion dollars a year and spends very little on office supplies. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/7 "2005-01-24T16:57:40Z")
Food is the biggest industry in the world, and probably always will be. Until Gyro Gearloose gets his food pills on the market. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/8 "2005-01-24T19:33:33Z")
I have a feeling that whoever coined that was counting sex in marriage as part of the “industry”. You know, the old idea that the “work” a wife does is having sex with her husband. If one uses this dubious definition, then close to half of the planet’s population works in the sex industry, which would make it quite easily the largest. In any event, I think that we do need to consider illicit activity, since a significant part of the drugs and weapons industries are illicit. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/9 "2005-01-24T20:12:24Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > Well, yeah… But is, e.g. farmaceuticals (incl. narcotics) bigger than the automobile industry, in total revenue? That would be _pharmaceuticals_. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/10 "2005-01-24T20:33:40Z")
You posted to correct a spelling error? Gee, that’s helpful. I was googling for answers in my own language and English and mixed up. Sorry if I offended you. So far, I’ve come up with an estimate of illegal drugs industry being worth about $500 bn annually (somewhere on some UN website). I’ve yet to find a number for _ph_armaceuticals to add to that. It’s fairly easy to find numbers on a national level for the US. Problem is finding them for other countries. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/11 "2005-01-24T21:02:18Z")
IS entertainment an industry? If it is, then sex is a part of that larger industry which also contains part of drugs and weapons, plus all media and even a significant bit of the food/drink industries. It is also common to talk about the manufacturing industry, which would account for much of drug, weapon, food, and many other things. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Mahma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@Joe\_Mahma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Mahma)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-largest-industries-in-the-world-sex-drugs-weapons/286396/12 "2005-01-26T15:20:23Z")
> [@The Gaspode](#): > > You posted to correct a spelling error? > Gee, that’s helpful. > > I was googling for answers in my own language and English and mixed up. Sorry if I offended you. > > So far, I’ve come up with an estimate of illegal drugs industry being worth about $500 bn annually (somewhere on some UN website). I’ve yet to find a number for _ph_armaceuticals to add to that. It’s fairly easy to find numbers on a national level for the US. Problem is finding them for other countries. I’m sorry - I neglected to check where you are posting from. No offense was intended. I would never have guessed that English wasn’t your native language.