What does deindustrialize mean?
Deindustrialize is a verb meaning to strip a region, city, or national economy of its industry — most commonly its manufacturing base. It describes processes such as factory closures, the relocation of production overseas, and a broad economic shift away from manufacturing and toward services. The word is most often encountered in economics, history, journalism, and political debate, where it tends to carry strongly negative connotations: deindustrialization is associated with job losses, declining industrial towns, and regional inequality. It is usually used transitively ('policies that deindustrialized the north') or in the passive ('the region was deindustrialized'), and its noun form, deindustrialization, is even more common in everyday usage. The term gained prominence during the late twentieth century, when Britain and the United States experienced steep declines in heavy industry, and it remains central to discussions of globalization, automation, and post-industrial economies. Understanding this word is essential for following debates about economic change and its social costs.
verbTo reduce or destroy the industrial capacity, industry, or industrial character of a region, country, or economy. Often used of economic decline in manufacturing sectors over time.
- To cause a region or economy to lose its industrial base, especially through the decline or closure of manufacturing industries.
"The closure of the steel mills deindustrialized the entire region within a decade."
"Many Midwestern cities were deindustrialized as factories relocated overseas."
"Critics argued that the government's policies would further deindustrialize an already weakened economy."
The word 'deindustrialize' was virtually unknown before the 1970s — then factory closures across Britain and America made it one of the defining verbs of the modern economy.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of deindustrialize
Deindustrialize combines the prefix 'de-' (indicating removal or reversal) with 'industrialize', which derives from 'industrial' and ultimately from Latin 'industria', meaning diligence or activity. The verb emerged in twentieth-century English, becoming widespread from the 1970s onward as economists and journalists sought a term for the decline of manufacturing in Western economies. Its noun form, 'deindustrialization', appeared slightly earlier and remains the more frequently used derivative. Cognates sharing the same root include 'industry', 'industrious', and 'industrialism'.
Related word forms
How deindustrialize is actually used
Typically used in formal, academic, journalistic, and economic contexts rather than casual conversation. Frequently appears in the passive ('was deindustrialized') and often carries negative connotations of economic decline, unemployment, and community loss.
Easily confused with deindustrialize
Industrialize means to develop industry in a place; deindustrialize means the opposite — to reduce or lose that industrial base.