private sector

American  

noun

1. the area of the nation's economy under private rather than governmental control.

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private sector British  

noun

1. the part of a country's economy that consists of privately owned enterprises Compare public sector

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private sector Cultural  

1. That part of an economy in which goods and services are produced by individuals and companies as opposed to the government, which controls the public sector.

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Etymology

Origin of private sector

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

MyTribe warned "surging" prices in the private sector and lack of NHS access was leaving patients "struggling to afford essential care".

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026

“Thousands of people are plaintiffs in this action, which names 18 public and private sector defendants. The City Attorney’s Office is responsible for defending the City and DWP in this lawsuit.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 11, 2026

“If they can’t get sufficient investment from the private sector to maximize AI development and deployment, then they will consider taking stakes in some subset of it,” Haines told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026

All of the job gains recorded in May were among full-time workers and were led by the private sector.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026

The Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen 449 points, to its lowest level in four years, and most of the market-moving news was coming not from the private sector but from government officials.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis