The economy consumes raw materials (such as metals, minerals, biomass and fossil fuels) to support economic activity. These raw materials are sourced either through domestic extraction or imports.
Reducing the volume of material inputs, for example through improved design efficiency, could deliver both economic and environmental benefits. Lower material use could reduce production costs, while decreased reliance on imports may lessen exposure to price volatility and supply shocks. At the same time, reduced extraction could mitigate resource depletion, as well as lower levels of waste and pollution.
This chapter shows how:
Comparing Domestic Material Consumption and economic output allows us to measure whether economic growth is becoming more or less resource intensive. The ratio indicates the ability of the economy to create value with fewer extractions of natural resources, or to create more value with the same amount of extractions. This is called ‘decoupling’ - whenever the link between environment extractions and economic growth is broken or adjusted.
Resource Productivity, when measured as Modified Gross National Income (GNI*) per kilogram of Domestic Material Consumption, increased by 37.8% between 2010 (€1.75 per kg) and 2023 (€2.41 per kg), suggesting that the economy is becoming less resource intensive.
When measured against Gross Domestic Product (GDP) resource productivity more than doubled between 2010 (€2.05 per kg) and 2023 (€4.35 per kg). See Figure 2.1 and Table 2.1.
Note: GNI* is an indicator designed specifically to measure the size of the Irish economy by excluding globalisation effects and is viewed as a good indicator of the domestic economy.
| GDP | GNI | Modified GNI* | |
| 2014 | 2.56 | 2.22 | 2.11 |
| 2015 | 3.09 | 2.46 | 2.08 |
| 2016 | 2.91 | 2.42 | 1.99 |
| 2017 | 3.04 | 2.42 | 1.96 |
| 2018 | 3.08 | 2.37 | 1.89 |
| 2019 | 3.16 | 2.41 | 1.89 |
| 2020 | 3.64 | 2.7 | 1.98 |
| 2021 | 4.22 | 3.05 | 2.25 |
| 2022 | 4.31 | 2.93 | 2.21 |
| 2023 | 4.35 | 3.24 | 2.41 |
Domestic material consumption (DMC) is reported in the CSO, Material Flow Accounts releases.
Ireland used 120.7 million tonnes of raw materials in total in 2023, down 3.4% from the previous year. This includes domestic extraction plus imports less exports. See Figure 2.2 and Table 2.2.
Figure 2.3 shows the total material resources used in the economy (DMC) for Ireland for the 2014-2023 period broken down into biomass, metallic minerals, non-metallic minerals, fossil fuels and other products. The biggest contributor to DMC was non-metallic minerals (55.3 million tonnes) which are used in construction such as marble, limestone, sand, gravel and crushed rock. See Figure 2.3 and Table 2.2.
A total 96.5 million tonnes of raw materials were extracted from the Irish environment in 2023, down 3.1% on 2022. This includes items like crops, sand, gravel, natural gas and peat.
Over half (54.9%) of these raw materials were related to construction, including 22.9 million tonnes of sand & gravel and 24.0 million tonnes of crushed rock.
Farming played an important role, with 40.9 million tonnes of raw materials coming from Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing in 2023, which represents 42.4% of total resource extraction. This includes grazed grass (or grazed biomass) at 23.1 million tonnes and fodder crops at 11.2 million tonnes. See Figure 2.4 and Table 2.3.
Comparing Ireland to other EU countries, Ireland's DMC in tonnes per capita was 22.7 tonnes in 2023, the sixth highest of the 27 EU member states. DMC per capita in Ireland fell by 5.2% in 2023 and is at its lowest level since 2015. This is largely because of regular increases in the population. See Figure 2.5 and Table 2.4.
The 'material import dependency' is the extent to which an economy relies upon imports, in terms of volume, in order to meet its material needs.
Ireland has a relatively low (30.5%) total import dependence, the ninth lowest of the 27 EU member states, likely impacted by high levels of domestic material extraction related to construction and farming. See Figure 2.6 and Table 2.5.
However, Ireland has a significantly higher dependence on imports for certain materials which are important to economic activity, including energy, for which we have an import dependence of 79.5%. See Figure 3.4 in the Energy Use and Import Dependency chapter.
Data on imports and total supply is reported in the CSO, Supply and Use Tables for Ireland releases.
Looking only at volume (tonnes) – like in Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) or Material Import Dependence – does not give a complete picture of how the economy depends on imports. It is necessary to consider both volume and value to fully understand import reliance. Economic impact is tied to both the value and volume of raw materials used in the Irish economy.
Looking at imports and total supply in terms of value, in 2022, despite high volumes of domestic extraction for materials such as sand & gravel and crushed rock, imports represent a significant proportion of total supply for Mining & Quarrying (78.9%) related products, which includes high value products such as crude oil and natural gas.
Imports also represented a high proportion of total supply for Basic metals (66.8%) and Transport equipment (including Motor Vehicles) (79.7%), while imports represent much lower proportions of total supply for Agriculture (Crop & animal production) (11.4%) and Food (19.3%) products. See Figure 2.7 and Table 2.6.
| X-axis label | 2022 |
|---|---|
| Crop & animal production (01) | 11.4 |
| Food products (10) | 19.3 |
| Mining & quarrying (05 to 09) | 78.9 |
| Basic metals (24) | 66.8 |
| Transport equipment (29,30) | 79.7 |
Data on digitalisation among Irish businesses is reported in the CSO, Information Society Statistics - Enterprises releases.
Almost one-fifth (18.0%) of enterprises surveyed used ICT systems or solutions to reduce materials used or enhance use of recycled materials. Almost half (49.8%) of large enterprises used ICT systems or solutions to reduce materials used or enhance use of recycled materials, compared with 29.6% of medium enterprises and 14.7% of small enterprises. See Figure 2.8 and Table 2.7.
Gross value added (GVA) of the Green Economy is reported in the CSO, Business in Ireland - Green Economy releases.
The Green Economy produces the goods and services used in environmental protection and resource management activities, and thus helps to ’green’ the economy, by helping to make it more efficient in terms of resources and emissions. Such goods and services can include, for example, products to prevent, measure, control, limit, minimise or correct environmental damage and resource depletion. The Green Economy also provides economic and social benefits in terms of value added and employment.
GVA of the Green Economy (Environment Goods and Services sector) was €5.0 billion in 2023. This was up 22.2% on the previous year and is more than double the GVA of the Green Economy (€2.2 billion) in 2014. See Figure 2.9 and Table 2.8.
In 2023, the Industry sector generated €4 billion in Green Economy added value, up €0.7 billion on 2022 and accounted for 78.5% of total Green Economy added value. Within this, Construction contributed €1.1 billion (21.5%) of added value. See Figure 2.10 and Table 2.8.
The annual increase from 2022 to 2023 was mainly driven by the increased value added related to Energy from renewable sources, Waste management, and Energy savings & management. See Table 2.9.
At €5.0 billion, GVA of the Green Economy represented 1.7% of Ireland’s Modified Gross National Income (GNI*) in 2023. Ireland’s GVA of the Green Economy as a % of GDP was the second lowest in the EU, at 1% in 2023. See Figure 2.11 and Table 2.10.
Employment in the Green Economy is reported in the CSO, Business in Ireland - Green Economy releases.
Green Economy employment totalled 48,400 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2023. See Figure 2.12 and Table 2.11.
In the Industry sector employment totalled 32,900 FTEs in 2023. The percentage share of employment by the Industry sector was 68.0% in 2023. See Table 2.12.
Employment in the Green Economy grew by 12.6% in 2023 and is now 49.4% higher than in 2014.
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