Material Flow Accounts. 2021

The Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) of the Catalan economy totalled 48.1 million tonnes in 2021, a figure representing 6.2 tonnes per inhabitant, has remained stable compared to the year before. The material productivity amounted to 5.1 euros per kg, with an increase of 8.5% in comparison with the previous year.

The main component of the DMC is domestic extraction, which totalled 35.6 million tonnes, while the physical trade balance with external markets amounted to 12.5 million tonnes.

With regard to domestic extraction, the materials with the greatest weights were non-metallic minerals (76.2% of the total) and biomass (23.8% of the total), while fossil fuels accounted for less than 0.01% of the total. The extraction of metallic minerals was zero.

The physical trade balance with external markets totalled 12.5 million tonnes, with imports of materials amounting to 82.3 million tonnes, a figure exceeding exports (71.9 million tonnes). By territories, the balance with foreign markets stood at 15.7 million tonnes, while Catalonia was a net exporter of materials with respect to the rest of Spain, with a negative balance amounting to 3.1 million tonnes.

In relation to materials released into the environment after being used in the Catalan economy (processed domestic output), the main component was CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, which totalled 38.6 million tonnes, a figure equivalent to 4.9 tonnes per inhabitant.