ABSTRACT
Providing services for the population forms a large portion of that part of the national economy not given to the production of goods. In studies by Soviet analysts, the term “service sector” is usually used to cover those aspects of the social infrastructure that satisfy the basic needs of the population. In referring to service provision, the expression “infrastructure” is often used in contemporary Soviet literature. The rate of development of the service sector in the U.S.S.R. has lately been more rapid than that of other branches of the national economy. In 1965, those working in the non-productive sector accounted for 20.2 percent of all persons in the national economy, while in 1980 their share reached 26.1 percent. In the Lithuanian S.S.R. about 25 percent of the labor force is in the nonproductive sector. This is somewhat below the U.S.S.R. average, and the present pace of development in the service sphere is more rapid.
