This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from UK statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from UK statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other UK-specific metadata information.
| Indicator available | Tonnes of material footprint per capita, and per GDP in million GBP (£) |
|---|---|
| Indicator description | |
| Geographical coverage | United Kingdom |
| Unit of measurement | Tonnes per capita and Tonnes per GDP (million £s) |
| Definitions | Material Footprint (MF) is the attribution of global material extraction to domestic final demand of a country. The total material footprint is the sum of the material footprint for biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores and non-metal ores. MF consumption reports the amount of primary materials required to serve final demand of a country and can be interpreted as an indicator for the material standard of living/level of capitalization of an economy. Per-capita MF describes the average material use for final demand. Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) and MF need to be looked at in combination as they cover the two aspects of the economy, production and consumption (See indicators 8.4.2 and 12.2.2). The DMC reports the actual amount of material in an economy, MF the virtual amount required across the whole supply chain to service final demand. A country can, for instance have a very high DMC because it has a large primary production sector for export or a very low DMC because it has outsourced most of the material intensive industrial process to other countries. The material footprint corrects for both phenomena. |
| Calculations | Material Footprint (MF) is calculated as raw material equivalent of imports (RMEIM) plus domestic extraction (DE) minus raw material equivalents of exports (RMEEX). For the attribution of the primary material needs of final demand a global, multi-regional input-output (MRIO) framework is employed. The attribution method based on I-O analytical tools is described in detail in Wiedmann et al. 2015. It is based on the EORA MRIO framework developed by the University of Sydney, Australia (Lenzen et al. 2013) which is an internationally well-established and the most detailed and reliable MRIO framework available to date. |
| Other information | The global material flows database is based on country material flow accounts from the European Union and Japan and estimated data for the rest of the world. |
| Data last updated | 2018-04-04: see changes on GitHub opens in a new window |
| Metadata last updated | 2018-05-31: see changes on GitHub opens in a new window |