Economy-wide material flow accounts

Updated: 11 March 2025

Next update: Not yet determined

Domestic natural resources extracted in
Domestic natural resources extracted in
2023
321 952
1000 tonnes
 
Material flow account. Domestic extraction, import and export of materials, material products and waste. 1 000 tonnes
Material flow account. Domestic extraction, import and export of materials, material products and waste. 1 000 tonnes
201820222023Change in per cent
2018 - 2023
Domestic extraction323 452331 552321 9520
Biomass13 06615 96215 22617
Metal ores (gross ores)2 2082 2172 48012
Non metalic minerals104 84198 46890 398-14
Fossil energy materials/carriers203 337214 905213 8485
Imports45 99744 66843 152-6
Biomass and biomass products8 4057 8587 421-12
Metal ores and concentrates, raw and processed9 4759 4738 816-7
Non-metallic minerals, raw and processed7 0096 5465 981-15
Fossil energy materials/carriers, raw and processed16 62916 79317 1233
Other products3 5823 3522 971-17
Waste imported for final treatment and disposal897646840-6
Exports230 246253 532252 1129
Biomass and biomass products10 33810 61010 197-1
Metal ores and concentrates, raw and processed7 2747 6017 4713
Non-metallic minerals, raw and processed33 09136 52933 9823
Fossil energy materials/carriers, raw and processed172 708192 949195 47213
Other products4 9774 0873 522-29
Waste exported for final treatment and disposal1 8581 7561 468-21
Explanation of symbols

About the statistics

The compilation of data consists of extraction of biomass, metal ores and concentrates, non-metallic minerals, fossil energy carriers. It also consists import and export of natural resources including waste materials.

The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 11 March 2025.

Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) is a framework to compile statistics linking flows of materials from natural resources to a national economy. EW-MFA is descriptive statistic, in physical units such as tonnes per year.

Biomass in general comprises organic non-fossil material of biological origin. Crops, crop residues, fodder crops, grazed biomass, wood, wild fish catch, aquatic plants/animals, hunting and gathering.

Fossil energy material/carriers coal, Lignite, hard coal, oil shale and tar sands, peat, crude oil, natural gas.

Metal ores are mineral aggregates containing metals. Ferrous metal: Iron, Non-ferrous metal: Copper, nickel, lead, zinc, tin, gold, silver, platinum, bauxite, aluminium, uranium and thorium.

Non-metallic minerals Marble, granite, sandstone, porphyry, basalt, other ornamental or building stone (excluding slate), chalk and dolomite, Slate, chemical and fertilizer minerals, salt, limestone and gypsum, clays and kaolin, sand and gravel.

Raw products raw materials like products produced by primary industries such as agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining.

Semi-manufactured products which are further processed raw products but do not yet constitute finished products; they obviously need to be further processed.

Finished products which are finalized i.e., are not processed or transformed anymore.

Not relevant

Name: Economy-wide material flow accounts
Topic: Nature and the environment

Not yet determined

Division for Energy, Environmental and Transport Statistics

Whole Country

Yearly

Yearly reporting to Eurostat in accordance with statistics regulation 691/2011 about European environmental economic accounts.

Data from all internal and external actors will be aggregated and stored as files in the operating system UNIX. All files are stored as SAS-language files.

The Statistics Regulation 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts, includes a module called Economy -Wide Material Flow Accounts (EW- MFA).

The general purpose of EW-MFA is to describe the interaction of the domestic economy with the natural environment and the rest of the world economy (ROW) in terms of flow of materials (excluding water and air). The economy is demarcated by the conventions of the national accounting system (resident units).

Only flows crossing the system boundary (between the environment and the economy) on the input-side or on the output-side are counted. Material flows within the economy are not represented in EW-MFA.

For populating the EW-MFA framework with data various statistical sources have to be used. Those original sources have to be reformatted and amended in order to comply with the concepts of the EW-MFA accounting system.

The compilation of data for reporting consist of biomass, metal ores and concentrates, non-metallic minerals, fossil energy carriers, or waste imported for final treatment and disposal. Products which cannot be clearly identified as belonging to one of the four material categories should be included under other products.

The statistics are used for international reporting (EU).
Figures are also used by the European environment agency to publish yearly
material resource efficiency in Europe. Eurostat, Norwegian Environment
Agency, Research Institutions and other organizations and persons who
works with environmental economics and natural resources and media are the
main users of statistics.

Not relevant

The statistics are based on annual reporting of figures from primary
statistics, energy statistics, foreign trade in the national accounts,
waste statistics (possibly from raw material for these statistics) as well
as mineral resource statistics from Norwegian Directorate of Mining (DMF).
The numbers are retrieved, both manual and automated, on an agreed format from source statistics.

Statistics regulation 691/2011about European environmental economic accounts.

The statistics include the data for extraction of natural resources (biomass, minerals and fossil fuels) as well as import and export of such resources. In addition, import and export of products (distribution based on the type of material as the main constituent) and waste for final disposal.

The compilation of figures for reporting involves annual reporting of figures from primary statistics, energy statistics, foreign trade in the national accounts, waste statistics (from raw material for these statistics) as well as mineral resource statistics from Directorate for Mineral Management (Dirmin) . Following are links to source data:

Cereals, pulses and Oil seeds:

http://www.ssb.no/en/jord-skog-jakt-og-fiskeri/statistikker/korn/aar/2012-11-27?fane=om#content

Roots and tubers:

http://www.ssb.no/en/jord-skog-jakt-og-fiskeri/statistikker/jordbruksavling/aar/2013-02-04?fane=om#content

Vegetables fruit and berries:

http://www.ssb.no/en/jord-skog-jakt-og-fiskeri/statistikker/hagebruk/aar/2012-12-21?fane=om#content

Forage plants including meadow for mowing:

http://www.ssb.no/en/jord-skog-jakt-og-fiskeri/statistikker/jordbruksavling/aar/2013-02-04?fane=om#content

Source: Budget Committee for Agriculture (BFJ), Total estimates for 
agriculture; Feed accounts

Waste statistics:

http://www.ssb.no/en/natur-og-miljo/statistikker/avfregno

Foreign trade:

http://www.ssb.no/en/utenriksokonomi/statistikker/muh

Mineral Resources:

https://www.dirmin.no/om-naeringen/mineralstatistikk

EW-MFA module requires annual mandatory reporting to Eurostat on extraction of natural resources (biomass, minerals and fossil fuels) as well as import and export of such resources. In addition, import and export of products (roughly split by type of material as the main constituent) and waste for final disposal. Data which form the basis for reporting collected from sources in Statistics Norway and with external actors.

The compilation of data for reporting involves annual figures from primary statistics, energy statistics, foreign trade in the national accounts, waste statistics (possibly from raw material for these statistics) as well as mineral resource statistics from Directorate for Mineral Management (Dirmin). The numbers retrieved both manual and automated, on an agreed format source statistics.

Data compilation, accounting rules and classification of EW-MFA follows European standard systems mentioned in EW-MFA compilation guide (EW-MFA guide 2018) and System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Central framework (SEEA 2012).

Not relevant

This statistics includes only aggregated figures, and follow SSB's rules for confidentiality.

The economy wide-material flow accounts balance sheet includes figures since 1990 except data for all type of metallic and non-metallic minerals. Figures for metallic ores and non-metallic minerals are available from 2006. In addition statistics follows European standard system, which makes figures comparable also at European level.

This depends on the quality of the source statistics. Although the registers involved are of fairly high quality, some coverage errors could occurs due to late updating and classification errors. Use of estimates instead of actual figures represents another source of uncertainty. Errors may also occur during data transfer and revision. There can be uncertainty about where the end consumption takes place.

Not relevant

Contact