the Pareto principle UK US noun [S] (also Pareto's law , INFORMAL the 80/20 rule) ECONOMICS, WORKPLACE, PRODUCTION
► the idea that a small quantity of work or resources (= time, money, employees, etc.) can produce a large number of results: »
The Pareto principle, when applied to time, states that 20% of your time determines 80% of your production.
»The Pareto principle can be applied to quality improvement, as the majority of problems (80%) are produced by a few key causes (20%).
Financial and business terms. 2012.