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Material Flow Accounts 2022

Key Findings

Extraction of Sand & Gravel and Crushed Rock both rose by more than 6% in 2022

Online ISSN: 2009-888X

CSO statistical publication, 12 June 2024, 11am

Key Findings

Domestic Extraction (See Editor’s Note below for a definition) was 93.6 million tonnes in 2022 (See Table 1 and Table 2).
The principal component of Domestic Extraction in 2022 was Non-Metallic Minerals at 51.8 million tonnes. This mainly comprised of Sand & Gravel at 23.4 million tonnes, up 6.9% on 2021, and Crushed Rock at 23 million tonnes, up 6.2% on 2021 (See Table 2).
The domestic extraction of Biomass accounted for 37.9 million tonnes in 2022 with Grazed Biomass amounting to 18.4 million tonnes and Fodder Crops at 12.1 million tonnes (See Table 2).
The domestic extraction of Fossil Fuels was 1.8 million tonnes in 2022 slightly up on the 2021 figures of 1.7 million tonnes. Natural Gas extraction was 1.1 million tonnes and Peat was 0.7 million tonnes in 2022 (See Table 2).
Domestic Material Consumption (See Editor’s Note below for a definition) was 118.9 million tonnes in 2022 which was 2.3% higher than in 2021 (See Table 1).
Air emissions, at 40.8 million tonnes, accounted for 74% of Domestic Processed Output in 2022 (See Table 1).

Statistician's Comment

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (12 June 2024) released Material Flow Accounts 2022.

Commenting on the release Reamonn McKeever, Statistician in the Environment Division, said: “Domestic Extraction rose by 2% from 91.8 million tonnes in 2021 to 93.6 million tonnes in 2022. This increase was primarily caused by a rise in the domestic extraction of Non-Metallic Minerals of 6.2% from 48.8 million tonnes in 2021 to 51.8 million tonnes in 2022.

Fodder Crop production was revised upwards for the entire 1994-2022 period due to the adoption of a new methodology. The figure for 2022 was 12.1 million tonnes, down slightly from 12.3 million tonnes in 2021.

The domestic extraction of Fossil Fuels at 1.8 million tonnes in 2022 was stable compared with 1.7 million tonnes in 2021 but significantly lower than the pre-2020 figures, due primarily to restrictions on the commercial harvesting of peat.

Trade goods imports were 44.5 million tonnes in 2022 compared with exports of 19.1 million tonnes.

Raw products accounted for 42.1% of imports and 10.1% of exports in 2022. Finished goods made up 42% of trade imports and 49.8% of trade exports in 2022.

Domestic Material Consumption was 118.9 million tonnes in 2022. This was 2.7 million tonnes or 2.3% higher than in 2021. The lowest figure for Domestic Material Consumption in the 1994-2022 time series was 92.3 million tonnes in 2011. The highest figure in the time series was 184.1 million tonnes in 2007.

Domestic Processed Output (mostly air emissions) fell by 1.6% from 55.8 million tonnes in 2021 to 54.9 million tonnes in 2022.

Net Material Accumulation increased from 54.9 million tonnes in 2021 to 58.1 million tonnes in 2022.”

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.

Fodder Crop figures were revised significantly upwards from last year’s report due to the adoption of a new methodological approach. Fodder Crop figures increased from a range of 4-6 million tonnes to 10-13 million tonnes per year.

More information is available in the Background Notes.

Tables and Graphs

	Non-Metallic Minerals	Biomass	Fossil Fuels	Metallic Minerals	Other Products
1994	30.099592	39.4284547546801	17.5769996811536	4.07411676470588	0.314667
1995	28.972518	39.5420063586013	18.1108116419472	4.67872194117647	0.390209
1996	35.174244	40.0280738353969	16.5446897657072	4.52577335294118	0.30594
1997	40.02669	39.6080274622326	14.966616679264	4.81315317647059	0.34077
1998	47.244316	40.4422697894384	15.2429239641008	5.80157864705882	0.518285
1999	56.306442	41.1929399604518	15.9709000694384	5.72135988235294	0.40092
2000	67.18277	42.1262940622765	16.0079074922064	5.93786717647059	0.554256
2001	67.976513	41.9444328949738	15.713991891356	6.12722488235294	1.062869
2002	70.382786	40.5127166736574	13.6067636428912	6.4277215882353	3.095537
2003	87.517182	41.0601828263344	17.3325139470952	7.652298	1.579992
2004	95.396663	42.0053946713133	18.837084241852	7.73223311764706	0.679203
2005	101.138316	41.7912097869939	17.7780404248721	7.94843782352941	0.73188
2006	113.772998	40.4450408133305	16.3200951097213	8.33077341176471	0.851927
2007	117.492953	38.8264235754945	18.2063170331177	8.71851635294118	0.895365
2008	94.327002	41.2391552376168	18.2463838916956	7.314473	1.178154
2009	59.355911	41.0248406459438	16.975650525538	6.08513688235294	0.591118
2010	40.365262	40.3873281243433	18.9955263003255	6.98586258823529	0.470993
2011	28.317282	40.2672137387543	17.1178768659788	6.08519967647059	0.498544
2012	31.995734	40.1345857223124	13.4901053509153	6.44809805882353	0.393839
2013	30.775761	41.684270301149	19.9672926696123	6.23592005882353	0.629963
2014	30.751812	41.8433493809225	17.0103766213241	6.35228529411765	0.8335
2015	34.230003	41.38352459044	16.7445464181157	6.77299688235294	0.855136
2016	42.176859	40.4731971664462	17.2635349937472	6.19259276470588	1.044723
2017	46.604605	41.7148856522306	18.2348514755116	6.03000041176471	1.125681
2018	52.457595	42.5927606647571	19.0718868216675	5.86604811764706	1.147992
2019	57.817569	42.7128202404131	15.2626487745385	6.72420841176471	1.156964
2020	52.677564	44.2028179598165	11.408390601787	6.66950505882353	1.326037
2021	51.469425	42.9403242948931	13.2941923993688	7.2083104117647	1.328288
2022	54.531704	42.8296753508646	13.7132082655465	6.72762688235294	1.147355

	Domestic Material Consumption	Domestic Extraction	Imports	Exports
1994	91.4938302005396	76.9256652005396	24.653766	10.085601
1995	91.6942669417249	78.0556189417249	24.428658	10.79001
1996	96.5787209540453	81.7773559540453	25.159228	10.357863
1997	99.7552573179672	84.0323633179672	27.243757	11.520863
1998	109.249373400598	91.136150400598	30.298711	12.185488
1999	119.592561912243	102.054217912243	29.642358	12.104014
2000	131.809094730953	113.367989730953	31.921776	13.480671
2001	132.825031668683	113.963181668683	31.702319	12.840469
2002	134.025524904784	113.319860904784	34.329982	13.624318
2003	155.14216877343	134.58322577343	33.032526	12.473583
2004	164.650578030812	142.121480030812	36.711228	14.18213
2005	169.387884035395	146.027015035395	37.545568	14.184699
2006	179.720834334816	155.596725334816	38.800115	14.676006
2007	184.139574961553	156.518236961553	42.297098	14.67576
2008	162.305168129312	138.319258129312	38.864541	14.878631
2009	124.032657053835	103.801536053835	33.389734	13.158613
2010	107.204972012904	86.054691012904	35.810802	14.660521
2011	92.2861162812037	73.0859352812037	34.946499	15.746318
2012	92.4623621320512	74.0874211320512	34.750754	16.375813
2013	99.2932070295848	78.3415320295848	36.623974	15.672299
2014	96.7913232963643	77.0749712963643	36.418183	16.701831
2015	99.9862068909087	79.3686618909087	39.147384	18.529839
2016	107.150906924899	87.2812369248993	38.679491	18.809821
2017	113.710023539507	91.8230325395069	40.349132	18.462141
2018	121.136282604072	95.5527726040717	43.878116	18.294606
2019	123.674210426716	100.486396426716	41.518468	18.330654
2020	116.284314620427	94.3050316204271	40.533861	18.554578
2021	116.240540106027	91.7775371060266	43.726327	19.263324
2022	118.949569498764	93.5673174987641	44.471409	19.089157

	Crushed Rock	Sand and Gravel	Grazed Biomass	Fodder Crops
1994	12.702077	14.204352	19.2076630499028	10.8610824274789
1995	12.383309	12.312157	19.2835158899638	10.6958189313391
1996	15.462778	14.193942	19.0538584145997	10.9956177229424
1997	19.182015	15.68906	19.4139269669872	10.5758521450965
1998	27.691969	14.517053	19.5693105192562	10.409241362127
1999	33.03963	16.463083	19.5530891110612	10.4763899603112
2000	39.29354	20.617343	19.252675	11.6228606884767
2001	39.764071	20.775696	19.405975	11.6605608109537
2002	40.107405	23.732765	19.246075	10.8329005258972
2003	51.439493	27.895567	19.234075	10.7223772392192
2004	55.502118	31.786968	19.071375	10.8132018505499
2005	58.879552	33.61907	18.538475	12.746344522269
2006	67.515585	35.692075	18.30785	13.0831129231907
2007	68.134552	38.501972	18.67535	11.4635036842685
2008	52.673408	31.643636	20.33125	12.5467729541929
2009	31.900503	20.132969	20.404425	12.4368299147579
2010	20.682067	13.01043	20.576325	11.188647260377
2011	13.467804	9.616906	20.411125	11.1790384240422
2012	14.325469	12.826674	20.28315	10.9287792530399
2013	13.176218	12.990954	19.939475	11.299867748067
2014	14.829948	11.857339	19.6899475	11.6517009531823
2015	16.775619	13.535076	19.5846495	11.0907314853636
2016	20.900994	16.895064	18.9895755	10.9551304355405
2017	23.210143	17.533505	19.12200425	11.3497673290927
2018	25.779205	18.761221	19.10925425	11.0954537755815
2019	29.274663	20.497738	19.1649425	11.6274382837268
2020	26.955784	17.961131	20.39647775	12.4613247846856
2021	21.652025	21.904378	19.4049645	12.3228673093101
2022	22.997186	23.411324	18.35295775	12.0797949741176

Table 1: Net Material Accumulation 2013-2022

Table 1: Net Material Accumulation 2013- 2022
million tonnes
Description	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022

Domestic Extraction	78.3	77.1	79.4	87.3	91.8	95.6	100.5	94.3	91.8	93.6
Biomass	38.0	38.4	37.9	36.6	37.5	36.1	37.8	39.2	39.1	37.9
Metallic Minerals	3.8	3.7	3.4	2.6	2.3	2.2	2.5	2.3	2.1	2.1
Non-Metallic Minerals	29.0	29.5	33.6	41.8	45.1	50.1	55.7	50.4	48.8	51.8
Fossil Fuels	7.6	5.5	4.5	6.3	6.9	7.2	4.5	2.4	1.7	1.8

+ Trade Imports	36.6	36.4	39.1	38.7	40.3	43.9	41.5	40.5	43.7	44.5
Biomass	9.8	9.8	10.2	10.8	11.5	14.0	12.9	12.8	11.8	12.9
Metallic Minerals	6.1	6.2	6.8	6.9	7.1	7.1	7.7	7.3	8.6	8.0
Non-Metallic Minerals	3.8	3.8	4.0	4.2	4.8	5.6	5.0	5.3	6.1	6.0
Fossil Fuels	15.3	14.7	16.1	14.5	14.6	14.8	13.5	12.4	14.5	15.0
Other Products	1.7	1.9	2.0	2.2	2.3	2.4	2.4	2.6	2.7	2.5

- Trade Exports	15.7	16.7	18.5	18.8	18.5	18.3	18.3	18.6	19.3	19.1
Biomass	6.1	6.3	6.7	6.9	7.3	7.5	8.0	7.8	7.9	8.0
Metallic Minerals	3.6	3.6	3.4	3.3	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.0	3.6	3.3
Non-Metallic Minerals	2.0	2.5	3.4	3.8	3.3	3.2	2.9	3.0	3.4	3.3
Fossil Fuels	2.9	3.2	3.8	3.6	3.3	2.9	2.8	3.4	3.0	3.1
Other Products	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.2	1.3	1.4	1.4

= Domestic Material Consumption	99.3	96.8	100.0	107.2	113.7	121.1	123.7	116.3	116.2	118.9
Biomass	41.7	41.8	41.4	40.5	41.7	42.6	42.7	44.2	42.9	42.8
Metallic Minerals	6.2	6.4	6.8	6.2	6.0	5.9	6.7	6.7	7.2	6.7
Non-Metallic Minerals	30.8	30.8	34.2	42.2	46.6	52.5	57.8	52.7	51.5	54.5
Fossil Fuels	20.0	17.0	16.7	17.3	18.2	19.1	15.3	11.4	13.3	13.7
Other Products	0.6	0.8	0.9	1.0	1.1	1.1	1.2	1.3	1.3	1.1

- Domestic Processed Output	53.5	52.9	54.3	56.6	55.9	56.5	54.3	52.5	55.8	54.9
Emissions to Air	40.3	40.0	41.9	43.8	42.8	43.0	41.3	39.1	41.5	40.8
Waste Landfilled (uncontrolled)	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Emissions to Water	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Dissipative Use of Products	13.1	12.9	12.4	12.8	13.1	13.4	13.0	13.4	14.2	14.0

+ Balancing Items Input Side	64.3	63.8	66.5	69.6	69.0	69.3	67.3	64.7	66.8	67.0
- Balancing Items Output Side	69.6	69.2	70.5	73.6	74.3	74.2	73.4	71.8	72.4	73.0

= Net Material Accumulation	40.5	38.5	41.6	46.5	52.6	59.8	63.3	56.6	54.9	58.1

Open in Excel: Material Flow Accounts 2022 Table 1 (XLS 15KB)

Table 2: Domestic Extraction 2013-2022

Table 2: Domestic Extraction 2013-2022
million tonnes
Description	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022

Domestic Extraction	78.3	77.1	79.4	87.3	91.8	95.6	100.5	94.3	91.8	93.6

Biomass	38.0	38.4	37.9	36.6	37.5	36.1	37.8	39.2	39.1	37.9
Crops	3.2	3.3	3.4	3.1	3.2	2.5	3.2	2.7	3.3	3.4
Cereals	2.4	2.6	2.6	2.3	2.4	1.9	2.4	2.0	2.5	2.5
Roots/Tubers	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.4
Sugar Crops	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Vegetables	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Other Crops	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2
Used Crop Residues	2.0	2.1	2.2	1.9	2.0	1.5	2.0	1.7	2.0	2.1
Straw	1.9	2.1	2.1	1.9	1.9	1.5	1.9	1.6	2.0	2.0
Other Crop Residues	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Fodder Crops	11.3	11.7	11.1	11.0	11.3	11.1	11.6	12.5	12.3	12.1
Grazed Biomass	19.9	19.7	19.6	19.0	19.1	19.1	19.2	20.4	19.4	18.4
Wood	1.3	1.3	1.4	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.7	1.6	1.8	1.8
Wild Fish Catch, Aquatic Plants and Animals	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2

Metallic Minerals	3.8	3.7	3.4	2.6	2.3	2.2	2.5	2.3	2.1	2.1
Lead Gross Ore	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.2	0.3
Zinc Gross Ore	3.4	3.2	3.0	2.3	2.0	2.0	2.2	2.1	1.9	1.8

Non-Metallic Minerals	29.0	29.5	33.6	41.8	45.1	50.1	55.7	50.4	48.8	51.8
Marble, Granite, Sandstone	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3
Limestone and Gypsum	2.6	2.5	3.0	3.6	3.8	4.9	5.2	4.7	4.4	4.7
Crushed Rock	13.2	14.8	16.8	20.9	23.2	25.8	29.3	27.0	21.7	23.0
Sand and Gravel	13.0	11.9	13.5	16.9	17.5	18.8	20.5	18.0	21.9	23.4
Other Non-Metallic Minerals	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.4

Fossil Fuels	7.6	5.5	4.5	6.3	6.9	7.2	4.5	2.4	1.7	1.8
Peat	7.4	5.4	4.4	4.1	4.3	4.7	2.5	0.9	0.6	0.7
Natural Gas	0.1	0.1	0.1	2.3	2.6	2.5	1.9	1.5	1.1	1.1

Open in Excel: Material Flow Accounts 2022 Table 2 (XLS 13KB)

Table 3: Trade by Stage of Manufacturing 2013-2022

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Material Flow Accounts 2022

Key Findings

Extraction of Sand & Gravel and Crushed Rock both rose by more than 6% in 2022

Key Findings

Statistician's Comment

Editor's Note

Tables and Graphs

Contents

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