Objective: The objective of this tool is to  (a) provide information on the economy-wide performance in terms of material use and efficiency; (b) reflect on countries’ material self-sufficiency and the implications for the material security of the manufacturing sector; and (c) evaluate the importance of the manufacturing sector in overall material use of the economy as well as the material use of manufacturing subsectors.
Key questions addressed:

How has the absolute material use of the national economy developed over time?

How has the material efficiency of a country developed over time and how can its performance be evaluated compared to other countries?

How self-sufficient is an economy with regard to raw materials, i.e. how dependent is the overall economic system on raw materials imported from abroad?

What is the share of the manufacturing sector in the overall material demand of the domestic economy?

Which are the manufacturing sub-sectors with the highest material use in a country?

How do the various manufacturing sub-sectors differ with regard to their demand for certain raw materials?

Which manufacturing sub-sectors are characterised by high value added, while having relative less material use compared to other sub-sectors, and thus should receive special attention in a greening industry strategy?

Indicators used:

Domestic material consumption (DMC) on the economy-wide level

Material efficiency of the economy (GDP/DMC)

Self-sufficiency of the economy (by main material groups)

Material use of the manufacturing sector (as share of material use of all sectors)

Material use of manufacturing sub-sectors (by main material Groups)

Titelbild Tool 6.2

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