Environmental accounts - Economy-wide material flow accounts 1998–2023
Reduced extraction of natural resources in 2023
After several years of a rising trend, domestic material consumption has turned downward during the last two years. In 2023, 242 million tonnes of natural resources were extracted in Sweden, which is a reduction of 7.5 percent since 2022. Domestic material consumption also decreased during 2023. It amounted to 22.2 tonnes per person in 2023 which is a reduction of 9 percent since 2022.
Domestic extraction
Large quantities of natural resources are extracted every year in Sweden for domestic use or export. In 2023, 242 million tonnes of natural resources were extracted, which is a substantial decrease compared to 2022. There has been a decrease in extracted biomass, metals, non-metallic minerals and fossil energy material/carriers. The main reason behind the decrease in domestic extraction is a reduced production of sand and gravel. Concurrently GDP decreased by 0.2 percent between 2022 and 2023.
Non-metallic minerals are the largest material category, and accounted for 94 million tonnes in domestic extraction in 2023. Sand and gravel accounted for 87 million tonnes of this. Extraction of non-metallic minerals is followed by extraction of metal ores, 84 million tonnes, where the most important among these metal ores was iron ore (36 million tonnes). Extraction of biomass amounted to 63 million tonnes, and consisted mainly of timber (38 million tonnes).
Certain events have a significant impact on the statistics, such as the storm Gudrun, which led to a temporary large increase in timber extraction in 2005. The international financial crisis led to a sharp decline in most categories in 2009 due to falling demand. Furthermore, the severe drought in the summer of 2018 also left a clear impression, as crops of cereals, pulses, oilseed crops and straw failed, which led to a drop in biomass extraction.
Source: Environmental Accounts, Statistics Sweden
Domestic material consumption
Domestic material consumption is defined as domestic extraction plus imports minus exports. The domestic material consumption has decreased by 9 percent compared to 2022, and increased by 29 percent since 1998, to a total of 234 million tonnes in 2023.
The domestic material consumption of fossil fuels amounted to 15 million tonnes in 2023. This is a decrease by 13 percent when compared to 2022. The consumption of non-metallic minerals, which primarily consists of sand and gravel, was 94 million tonnes in 2023. This is a decrease by 11 percent when compared to 2022. The consumption of metals amounted to 61 million tonnes in 2023, which is a decrease by 5 percent when compared to 2022.
Consumption of biomass amounted to 63 million tonnes in 2023, which is a decrease by 6 percent when compared to 2022.
In 2023, the consumption of “Other products” amounted to 2 million tonnes, and the consumption of “Waste” amounted to 2 million tonnes.
Source: Environmental Accounts, Statistics Sweden
Definitions and explanations
The consumption of natural resources can be monitored in the system of economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA), in the same way that GDP measures a country's revenues in monetary terms. One of the main indicators of the EW-MFA is domestic material consumption (DMC), which measures the amount of material extracted in the country, plus imports minus exports.
Material flows are divided into the following main material categories: biomass, metals, non-metallic minerals (mainly sand and gravel), fossil fuels, other products and waste. These are further divided into 40 subcategories.
The EW-MFA is used to measure the resource productivity of a country’s economy, and to examine the relationship between resource consumption and the GDP. For instance, the DMC indicator is used in the EU Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe.
Since 2013, the EW-MFA has been included in the EU regulation on environmental accounts, which means EU Member States are obliged to report statistics on their material flows to the EU.
Information on domestic extraction, imports and exports, and material consumption by material category is available in the Statistical Database. A file containing basic data and more figures is also available for download on the product page (link under “More about the results” at the top of this page).
Next publishing will be
The next publication is scheduled for 2026.
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.