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Material Flow Accounts 2021

Domestic Material Consumption increased by 2% in 2021

Online ISSN: 2009-888X

CSO statistical publication, 02 August 2023, 11am

Key Findings

Domestic Material Consumption (See Editor’s Note below for a definition) was 112 million tonnes in 2021 which was 2% higher than in 2020 (See Table 1).
Domestic Extraction was 88 million tonnes in 2021 (See Table 1 and Table 2).
The principal component of Domestic Extraction in 2021 was Non-Metallic Minerals at 51 million tonnes. This mainly comprised Sand & Gravel at 24 million tonnes and Crushed Rock at 22 million tonnes (See Table 2).
The domestic extraction of Biomass accounted for 32 million tonnes in 2021 with Grazed Biomass amounting to 19 million tonnes or 60% (See Table 2).
The domestic extraction of Fossil Fuels was 1.7 million tonnes in 2021, down from 2.2 million tonnes in 2020. Natural Gas extraction was 1.1 million tonnes and Peat fell to 0.6 million tonnes in 2021 (See Table 2).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (02 August 2023) published Material Flow Accounts 2021

Commenting on the release Reamonn McKeever, Statistician in the Environment and Climate Division of the Central Statistics Office, said: “Domestic Material Consumption was estimated at 112 million tonnes in 2021. This was 3 million tonnes or 2% higher than in 2020. The lowest figure for Domestic Material Consumption in the 1994-2021 time series was 86 million tonnes in 2011. The highest figure in the time series was 177 million tonnes in 2007.

Domestic Extraction rose from 87 million tonnes in 2020 to 88 million tonnes in 2021. This increase was caused by a rise in the domestic extraction of Non-Metallic Minerals from 50 million tonnes in 2020 to 51 million tonnes in 2021.

The domestic extraction of Fossil Fuels decreased by 460,000 tonnes in 2021 following on from declines in 2019 and 2020.

Trade goods imports were 43 million tonnes in 2021 compared with exports of 19 million tonnes.

Raw products accounted for 42% of imports and 11% of exports in 2021. Finished goods made up 42% of trade imports and 46% of trade exports in 2021.

Net Material Accumulation increased from 49 million tonnes in 2020 to 50 million tonnes in 2021.”

Editor's Note

Domestic Extraction measures flows of raw materials from the environment into the economy. These materials comprise biomass, metallic minerals, non-metallic minerals and fossil fuels.

Domestic Material Consumption measures the total amount of material used within a national economy. It is the sum of domestic extraction plus imports less exports. For more definitions see the Background Notes.

Tables and Graphs

	Non-Metallic Minerals	Biomass	Fossil Fuels	Metallic Minerals	Other Products
2000	66.933472	35.3076535244105	15.8046574922064	5.93790417647059	0.5543
2001	67.976606	35.085462899439	15.505138891356	6.12713488235294	1.0628
2002	70.382729	34.194753042256	13.3439286428912	6.42770358823529	3.0956
2003	83.715525	34.8467798451438	17.0804769470952	7.652278	1.5801
2004	94.541543	35.7215042794335	18.435270241852	7.73216111764706	0.6792
2005	98.367189	34.3384849399571	17.5344925248721	7.94844282352941	0.7318
2006	112.925657	32.7677465463207	16.0041379697213	8.33076641176471	0.8519
2007	117.328054	32.0153395968843	17.9680974731177	8.71856535294117	0.8952
2008	94.327002	33.8187473581596	17.9940744516956	7.314389	1.1782
2009	59.355936	33.7075310107503	16.716796765538	6.08515588235294	0.5911
2010	40.365346	34.1687688685673	18.6967771003255	6.98584158823529	0.471
2011	28.317315	33.9991447165693	16.8056073859788	6.08523667647059	0.4985
2012	31.995729	34.019958907349	13.2725736909153	6.44805605882353	0.3939
2013	30.775765	35.380344210654	19.7744080896123	6.23587005882353	0.6299
2014	30.751823	35.3265966653646	16.7703298413241	6.35234129411764	0.8335
2015	34.229981	35.221884985107	16.5140231381157	6.77300488235294	0.8551
2016	42.22417	34.3558530616952	16.9966192537472	6.19259476470588	1.0448
2017	46.590407	35.3824702449006	18.0984715155116	6.03007341176471	1.1257
2018	52.393413	36.3934346450699	18.8510487616675	5.86608811764706	1.1479
2019	57.693054	36.2458120564681	14.9753587745385	6.72423741176471	1.157
2020	52.523649	37.2623020214676	11.192491601787	6.66956405882353	1.3261
2021	53.873808	36.2166242207215	13.2609623993688	6.97386141176471	1.2711

	Domestic Material Consumption	Domestic Extraction	Imports	Exports
2000	124.537987193088	106.096787193087	31.9218	13.4806
2001	125.757142673148	106.895442673148	31.7022	12.8405
2002	127.444714273383	106.739114273382	34.3299	13.6243
2003	144.875159792239	124.316059792239	33.0326	12.4735
2004	157.109678638933	134.580678638933	36.7112	14.1822
2005	158.920409288359	135.559609288359	37.5455	14.1847
2006	170.880207927807	146.756007927807	38.8001	14.6759
2007	176.925256422943	149.304056422943	42.297	14.6758
2008	154.632412809855	130.646512809855	38.8646	14.8787
2009	116.456519658641	96.2253196586412	33.3898	13.1586
2010	100.687733557128	79.537433557128	35.8108	14.6605
2011	85.7058037790187	66.5056037790187	34.9465	15.7463
2012	86.1302176570878	67.7552176570878	34.7508	16.3758
2013	92.7962873590898	71.8446873590898	36.6239	15.6723
2014	90.0345908008064	70.3181908008064	36.4182	16.7018
2015	93.5939940055757	72.9764940055757	39.1474	18.5299
2016	100.814037080148	80.9443370801483	38.6796	18.8099
2017	107.227122172177	85.3400221721769	40.3492	18.4621
2018	114.651884524384	89.0684845243844	43.878	18.2946
2019	116.795462242771	93.6074622427714	41.5186	18.3306
2020	108.974106682078	86.9946066820782	40.534	18.5545
2021	111.596356031855	87.711956031855	43.0186	19.1342

	Crushed Rock	Sand and Gravel	Grazed Biomass	Fodder Crops
2000	39.293541	20.367997	19.252675	4.80425915061071
2001	39.764071	20.775696	19.405975	4.80163781541891
2002	40.107405	23.732765	19.246075	4.51490489449579
2003	47.814121	27.719212	19.234075	4.50871025802865
2004	54.965293	31.468688	19.071375	4.52905245867008
2005	57.679723	32.047765	18.538475	5.29366167523225
2006	67.033785	35.326545	18.30785	5.40573365618091
2007	68.134552	38.337084	18.67535	4.65244070565824
2008	52.673408	31.643636	20.33125	5.1263250747358
2009	31.900503	20.132969	20.404425	5.11946727956442
2010	20.682067	13.01043	20.576325	4.97006000460101
2011	13.467804	9.616906	20.411125	4.91095640185718
2012	14.325469	12.826674	20.28315	4.8141114380765
2013	13.176218	12.990954	19.939475	4.99594165757201
2014	14.829948	11.857339	19.6899475	5.13490723762438
2015	16.775619	13.535076	19.5846495	4.92903788003059
2016	20.948334	16.895064	18.9895755	4.83784033078951
2017	23.259823	17.469639	19.12200425	5.01739192176267
2018	25.779205	18.697046	19.10925425	4.89614775589424
2019	29.274663	20.423937	19.1649425	5.16990109978185
2020	26.955784	17.891663	20.39647775	5.53082684633664
2021	22.087855	24.264236	19.4049645	5.67148923513845

Table 1: Net Material Accumulation 2012- 2021

Table 1: Net Material Accumulation 2012- 2021
million tonnes
Description	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021

Domestic Extraction	67.8	71.8	70.3	73.0	80.9	85.3	89.1	93.6	87.0	87.7
Biomass	31.1	31.6	31.9	31.7	30.5	31.2	29.9	31.3	32.2	32.4
Metallic Minerals	4.2	3.8	3.7	3.4	2.6	2.3	2.2	2.5	2.3	2.1
Non-Metallic Minerals	30.4	29.0	29.5	33.6	41.8	45.1	50.0	55.6	50.3	51.4
Fossil Fuels	2.1	7.4	5.3	4.2	6.1	6.8	7.0	4.2	2.2	1.7

+ Trade Imports	34.8	36.6	36.4	39.1	38.7	40.3	43.9	41.5	40.5	43.0
Biomass	8.9	9.8	9.8	10.2	10.8	11.5	14.0	12.9	12.8	11.7
Metallic Minerals	5.9	6.1	6.2	6.8	6.9	7.1	7.1	7.7	7.3	8.4
Non-Metallic Minerals	3.4	3.8	3.8	4.0	4.2	4.8	5.6	5.0	5.3	5.9
Fossil Fuels	15.0	15.3	14.7	16.1	14.5	14.6	14.8	13.5	12.4	14.5
Other Products	1.5	1.7	1.9	2.0	2.2	2.3	2.4	2.4	2.6	2.6

- Trade Exports	16.4	15.7	16.7	18.5	18.8	18.5	18.3	18.3	18.6	19.1
Biomass	5.9	6.1	6.3	6.7	6.9	7.3	7.5	8.0	7.8	7.9
Metallic Minerals	3.7	3.6	3.6	3.4	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.0	3.5
Non-Metallic Minerals	1.8	2.0	2.5	3.4	3.8	3.3	3.2	2.9	3.0	3.4
Fossil Fuels	3.8	2.9	3.2	3.8	3.6	3.3	2.9	2.8	3.4	3.0
Other Products	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.4

= Domestic Material Consumption	86.1	92.8	90.0	93.6	100.8	107.2	114.7	116.8	109.0	111.6
Biomass	34.0	35.4	35.3	35.2	34.4	35.4	36.4	36.2	37.3	36.2
Metallic Minerals	6.4	6.2	6.4	6.8	6.2	6.0	5.9	6.7	6.7	7.0
Non-Metallic Minerals	32.0	30.8	30.8	34.2	42.2	46.6	52.4	57.7	52.5	53.9
Fossil Fuels	13.3	19.8	16.8	16.5	17.0	18.1	18.9	15.0	11.2	13.3
Other Products	0.4	0.6	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.3

- Domestic Processed Output	53.9	54.0	53.5	54.9	57.2	56.4	57.0	54.9	53.1	56.3
Emissions to Air	41.0	40.3	40.0	41.9	43.8	42.8	43.0	41.3	39.1	41.7
Waste Landfilled (Uncontrolled)	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Emissions to Water	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Dissipative Use of Products	12.2	13.1	12.9	12.4	12.8	13.1	13.4	13.0	13.4	14.1

+ Balancing Items Input Side	64.7	64.3	63.9	66.5	69.7	69.1	69.4	67.3	64.7	66.9
- Balancing Items Output Side	68.7	69.5	69.1	70.4	73.5	74.1	74.1	73.2	71.6	72.1

= Net Material Accumulation	28.3	33.6	31.3	34.9	39.8	45.7	52.9	56.1	49.0	50.1

Open in Excel: Material Flow Accounts 2021 Table 1 (XLS 15KB)

Table 2: Domestic Extraction 2012-2021

Table 3: Trade by Stage of Manufacturing 2012-2021

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Material Flow Accounts 2021