23 March 2010

The theory of Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) includes compilations of the overall material inputs into national economies, the changes of material stock within the economic system and the material outputs to other economies or to the environment. EW-MFA covers all solid, gaseous, and liquid materials, except for water and air. Water included in products is included.

In EW-MFA two types of material flows across system boundaries are relevant:

• Material flows between the national economy and the natural environment: this consists of the extraction of primary (i.e., raw, crude or virgin) materials from and the discharge of materials to the natural environment;
• Material flows between the national economy and other national economies. This encompasses imports and exports. Only flows that cross the system boundary on the input-side or on the output-side are counted. Material flows within the economy are not represented in EW-MFA. 

EW-MFA are meta-compilations of data from various official statistics, most of which are regularly provided and updated by national statistical offices. It is mainly based on data from agricultural, forestry, fishery production, mining, and energy statistics. Import and export data are typically taken from foreign trade statistics although some countries use national accounts as the primary data source for the trade data.

The classification of materials used in EW-MFA is a Eurostat based system. Domestically extracted materials are grouped into 4 main categories: Biomass, Metal ores,Non metallic minerals and Fossil energy materials/carriers. For imports and exports the products are grouped into 6 main categories: Biomass and biomass products, Metal ores and concentrates, primary and processed, Non metallic minerals, primary and processed, Fossil energy materials/carriers, primary and processed, Other products and Waste imported for final treatment and disposal.

For compilation of data different cross tables between the EW-MFA categories and International statistical classifications and nomenclatures systems are available in the EW-MFA Questionnaire 2009.For the EW-MFA category Biomass there is a cross table to FAO Codes. For the EW-MFA categories Metal ores (gross ores) and Non metallic minerals there are  also  cross tables to CPA 2002/CPA 2008 and PRODCOM 2007/PRODCOM 2008. For Import and Export  cross tables to all EW-MFA categories to the classification of SITC rev 4, HS 2007 and CN 2007 are available.

See 3.4

Examples of indicators based on EW-MFA: Domestic Extraction Used (DEU) is the input from the natural environment to be used in the economy. The annual amount of raw material (except for water and air) extracted from the natural environment.  Direct Material Input (DMI) measures the direct input of materials for the use in the economy, i.e. Domestic Extraction (DE) + Import. Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) is defined as the total amount of material directly used in an economy. DMC equals Direct Material Input (DMI) - Exports. (It is important to note that the term "consumption" as used in DMC denotes apparent consumption and not final consumption. DMC does not include upstream hidden flows related to Imports and Exports of raw materials and products.) Resource Productivity (GDP/DMC) is defined as the ratio between gross domestic product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC). When making comparisons over time and between countries it is important to use the correct GDP so that the changes in prices over time and purchasing power between countries do not influence the movement in the indicator. If looking at one geographic area (one country or EU-aggregate) during one time period then GDP in current prices (euros) should be used and the variable code would be: RP_EUR. If comparing one geographic area (one country or EU-aggregate) over 2 or more time periods then GDP in chain-linked volumes referenced to 2000 (euros) should be used, variable code: RP_CLV00. If comparing several geographic areas during one time period then GDP in Purchasing Power Standards (PPS) should be used, variable code RP_PPS. It is important to note that there are no GDP figures which allow for comparisons in two dimensions, both time and geographic area. To compare countries over time it would be necessary to have GDP in chain-linked volume PPS to a reference year. This type of GDP does not exist, therefore these types of comparisons cannot be made.

The national economy is the main statistical unit and for this geographical area the totals for domestic extraction used, total imports and total exports are developed. For EU-members, the extra EU-trade is also requested.

EW-MFA includes the material categories

1.Biomass and biomass products;

2. Metal ores and concentrates, primary and processed;

3. Non-metallic minerals, primary and processed;

4. Petroleum resources, primary and processed;

5. Other products 

6. Waste imported for final treatment and disposal.

Only the input side of material flows accounts are currently published by Eurostat.

The following regional levels are used in the database: EU27, and national data from EU member states, Turkey plus the EFTA countries of Norway and Switzerland. If countries do not report data or incomplete data then estimates are made and published.

Full data sets that allow for the calculation of domestic material consumption (DMC) for 2000-2007 for all EU member states,Turkey, Switzerland and Norway are available. EU-27 estimates are also provided for this period. Some countries have also provided data for the years 1990-1999 but no estimates for missing data have been made.

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1000 Metric tonnes per year (code: 1000T).

For Resource productivity the units available are:
1. Euro per kilogram (code: EUR_KG)
2. Euro per kilogram where the Euro used is in chain-linked volumes, reference year 2000 at 2000 exchange rates (code: EUR_CLV00_KG)
3. PPS per kilogram where the currency unit is in purchasing power standards (code: PPS_KG)

Calendar years.

Data collection for economy-wide material flow accounts is based on so-called gentleman's agreement. A module for EW-MFA is included in the ongoing work with a Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council covering European Environmental Economic Accounts.

There is no data sharing with other international organisations although some gap-filling procedures at Eurostat use publically available data when needed; international organisations can use the data as published in the Eurostat dissemination database. The European Environmental Agency (EEA) uses these data for a variety of monitoring and analyses.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Confidential data is not treated. If any confidential data are reported the cells appear as missing and shown with a confidentiality flag.

All non-confidential EW-MFA data collected in 2009 are published at the most detailed level in spring 2010.

The next scheduled data collection from European countries will begin in September 2011 and the new data should be published in Spring 2012.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Dissemination format') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Currently new data are collected and disseminated every other year.

Not available

National reports on EW-MFA as well as previous compilations of EW-MFA data are available on the Environmental Accounts dedicated section.

The EW-MFA data are available in the searchable Eurostat database in env_ac_mfa.

This database is the data source used for the Sustainable Development Indicators and the Structural Indicators at Eurostat.

The detailed data in NewCronos should be considered as the best statistical source data related to EW-MFA for European countries.

N/A (Eurostat collects the data from the Member States at an aggregate level).

Environmental accounts dedicated section

There are a series of draft compilation guides that have supported data collection exercises. All documents have been produced only in draft form since the methodology has continued to develop during the past decade. The most current version that was used in the 2009 data collection exercise is:

• Eurostat EW-MFA Compilation Guide for 2009 reporting
• EW-MFA Questionnaire 2009_19.06.2009

The compilation guides have continued to be improved in a number of ways over the years so that the most current version is the one that should be used.

Note: The Compilation guide and the EW-MFA Questionnaire will undergo additional revision in 2010 and new versions of the documents are planned to be used for the data collection in 2011.

As background there is as well another early guide on EW-MFA from available from Eurostat 2001 Economy-wide material flow accounts and derived indicators.

However, the classification of materials shown in that manual is not the most current.

See 12. Quality management below.

The original data collection is made by the Member States, while Eurostat only collects the assembled country compilations. The quality assurance and documentation of the quality is a joint responsibility of Eurostat and the MS depending on the producer of the underlying data source. The quality of the accounts is only as good as the quality of the underlying basic statistics.

Data sent in by the Member States in the Questionnaire 2009 was checked using an Excel-based editing tool with embedded macros that checks the data for empty spaces, illegal symbols, consistency (totals and sub-totals calculated correctly, and against the figures reported in 2007) and plausibility. The plausibility checks also investigated the development of the time series for each material reported.

Measuring progress towards sustainable development is an integral part of the European Union´s sustainable development strategy. For this purpose, a set of sustainable development indicators has been developed by the European Commision, in cooperation with Member States, EFTA and candidate countries. The strategy foresees that Eurostat will produce a monitoring report based on this indicator set every two years. The latest SDI report can be found on the dedicated section.

EW-MFA data is used for the indicator Resource Productivity under the strategy of Sustainable consumption and production. Resource productivity provides insights into the sustainable development strategy objective to decouple economic growth from natural resource use. For more information on Sustainable Use of Natural Resources see : http://ec.europa.eu/environment/natres/index.htm

At national and international level EW-MFA data are interesting for the research community especially in the field of Industrial Ecology.

No systematic user satisfaction survey have been conducted.

The data sets delivered by the Member States vary in level of completeness. Some data cells are missing because no proper data source was available. Missing data have been gap-filled for 2000-2007 for EU member states, Norway and Switzerland. Full data sets are needed for calculating EU-aggregates since they are calculated by adding up the appropriate members in the different aggregates. EU-aggregates are developed by adding up the individual country data to the EU-totals (bottom-up calculation approach).

See point 12.1 above.

Data on EW-MFA constitutes secondary statistics. The underlying statistical sources utilised by the Member States may have errors, but this is managed by the Member States respectively.

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The EW-MFA data compiled by the Member States are dependent on the release of national data for Import, Export, Agriculture, Extraction of Minerals and Fossil Fuels, trade statistics, etc., and are therefore subject to their revisions and timelines.

Many countries were able to submit complete dataset on time to Eurostat in the EW-MFA Questionnaire 2009 at the end of September 2009.

The use of the Eurostat MFA Compilation Guide for 2009 and the calculation tools developed in the EW-MFA Questionnaire 2009 enhances the comparability between Member States. However, the data sources used for compilation of EW-MFA data by the Member States may differ in scope and quality. For the resource productivity indicator, the GDP used should be in Purchaser Power Standards so that productivity will not be influenced by differences between countries.

In the EW-MFA Questionnaire 2009 the Member States were asked to fill in data for as many years as possible from 1990 onwards, with focus on year 2000 onwards. The consistency of the dataset over the 2000-2007 time period was checked as best as possible and therefore for that period comparability should be good. For the resource productivity indicator, the GDP has been provided using chain-linked volume to the reference year 2000 so that productivity will not be influenced by the differences in prices over time.

Theoretically  EW-MFA are consistent compilations of the overall material inputs into national economies, the changes of material stock within the economic system and the material outputs to other economies or to the environment. However, for most countries data on Domestic Processed Outputs is missing and Eurostat is not focusing on the part of EW-MFA since this is not needed for the sustainable development and structural indicators. This leads to weakness in cross domain coherence.

The data reported in the EW-MFA Questionnaire 2009 are internally coherent (totals are equal to the sum of the breakdowns).

The overall cost and burden is difficult to assess due to the different data collection methods applied by the Member States. Typically all data are from already published sources.

All data are supposed to be final. Corrections of errors are possible.

The published data should be regarded as final, unless otherwise stated. Corrections and revisions might occur.

The Member States are free to decide on the data collection methods for the data compiled in the EW-MFA. The general options are: surveys, administrative sources, statistical estimations, and use of already existing sources or some combination of methods.

Every other year. Next reporting currently planned for 2011.

The original data collection is made by the Member States, while Eurostat only collects the data indirectly through standard tables sent out to the Member States.

The validation of the national data is done in cooperation with the Member States. All data revisions have been approved by the Member States or are flagged as estimates. 

In order to obtain EU aggregates and for possible calculation of the indicators DMC and/or DMI missing data has been gap-filled with data from other data sources such Eurostat trade statistics, agriculture statistics, FAO statistics, USGS mining data, etc. as described in the compilation guidelines.

Not available

Not available