Soviet Union: number of workers in each industry 1940

In terms of Soviet economic success in the mid-twentieth century, industrialization was generally the area that saw the most progress in terms of Stalin's five-year plans' targets. By 1940, almost 40 percent of the Soviet workforce was employed in the industrial and manufacturing sector, however, much of this progress was at the expense of the agricultural sector (the largest employment sector before the 1930s), which suffered as a result of this rapid, often mismanaged, transition.Additionally, during this period, socialist policy focused on increasing the quality of life of Soviet citizens, and therefore placed a much stronger emphasis on tertiary sectors, including education and healthcare.

就苏联在二十世纪中叶的经济成就而言，工业化普遍成为斯大林五年计划目标实现过程中进展最为显著的领域。至1940年，苏联近40%的劳动力被吸纳于工业和制造业，然而，这一进展在很大程度上是以农业部门（20世纪30年代前的最大就业领域）的牺牲为代价的，该部门因这一快速且常伴随管理不善的转型而遭受重创。此外，在这一时期，社会主义政策专注于提高苏联公民的生活质量，因此对第三产业，包括教育和医疗保健，给予了更为强烈的重视。