National Statistics Institute of Spain

S. D. G. for Economic Sectors Statistics

Instituto Nacional de Estadística

Paseo de la Castellana, 183 - 28046 Madrid - España

Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) provide an aggregate overview, in thousand tonnes per year, of the material flows into and out of an economy. EW-MFA cover solid, gaseous, and liquid materials, except for bulk flows of water and air. Like the system of national accounts, EW-MFA constitute a multi-purpose information system. The detailed material flows provide a rich empirical database for numerous analytical purposes. Further, EW-MFA are used to derive various material flow indicators.

The National Statistical Institute (NSI) sends to Eurostat on yearly basis the EW-MFA. The accounts comprise the following reporting tables:

• Table A 'Domestic extraction (DE)': records material flows from the environment into the economy in a detailed breakdown by type of material
• Table B 'Imports - total imports (intra- and extra-EU) and Table D 'Exports – total exports (intra- and extra-EU)': These physical trade tables record the imports and exports of products in thousand tonnes and grouped by materials.
• Table F 'Domestic processed output (DPO)': records material flows from the economy to the domestic environment (e.g. emissions to air, water and soil)
• Table G 'Balancing items': reports some memorandum items which are necessary to have the full material balance related to a national economy
• Table H 'Indicators': presents the EW-MFA derived indicators which are automatically calculated from Table A to G
• Table I 'Material flow accounts in raw material equivalents (RME)': records material flow accounts in raw material equivalents (MFA-RME). Some items are calculated automatically based on data reported in Table A and Table I

EW-MFA record physical flows of materials broken down by type of flow and by type of material.

The type of flow dimension corresponds to the EW-MFA questionnaire reporting tables and derived indicators, namely:

• domestic extraction (Table A)
• physical imports (Table B)
• physical exports (Table D)
• domestic processed output (Table F)
• balancing items (Table G)
• direct material input (indicator)
• domestic material consumption (indicator)
• physical trade balance (indicator)

The breakdown by type of material employs a classification of materials. This EW-MFA classification of materials is hierarchical with main material flow categories (1-digit level). Each main category is further broken down, maximal down to 4-digit-level:

    1-digit: material category;

    2-digit: material class;

    3-digit: material group;

    4-digit: material sub-group.

The data refer to national economies as defined in the system of national accounts.

Conceptually economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) belong to the international system of environmental economic accounting (SEEA-Central Framework). Furthermore, EW-MFA is one of several physical modules of Eurostat's programme on European environmental economic accounts. It is covered by Regulation (EU) No. 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts.

EW-MFA are closely related to concepts and definitions of national accounts. Most notably they follow the residence principle, i.e. they record material flows related to resident unit's activities, regardless where those occur geographically.

Further methodological guidelines are provided in various publications by Eurostat (see Eurostat website > Environment > Methodology, heading: 'Material flows and resource productivity').

For more detailed information please see also 3.1.

Statistical units change according to the different data sources (e.g. agriculture, forestry and fishery statistics, production statistics, geological surveys, energy statistics, foreign trade statistics etc.) which EW-MFA are based on.

EW-MFA refer to the entire national economy of the reporting country (see also 3.3 'Coverage - sector')).

EW-MFA include all materials (excluding water and air) crossing the system boundary (between the environment and the economy) on the input side or on the output side. The economy is demarcated by the conventions of the national accounting system (resident units).

Material inputs to the economy cover extractions of natural resources (excluding water and air) from the natural environment and imports of material products (goods) from the rest of the world economy (ROW).

Material outputs are disposals of materials to the natural environment and exports of material products and waste to the ROW. Information on natural resources extracted and traded products is provided by different statistical units.

Spain

The Environmental Accounts cover the entire national territory.

The Material Flow Accounts must be consistent with the National Economic Accounts. The National Accounts define the national economy as the set of activities and operations of the resident economic agents who have a centre of interest in the national economic territory. Some operations of these units are carried out outside of the national economic territory, and other transactions, within this territory, are carried out by non-resident units. Therefore, in the Material Flow Accounts, as with the National Accounts, it is necessary to apply the principle of residence. According to this principle, those materials used by units resident outside of the national territory must be considered inputs of the national economy, and those materials used by units that are not resident in the national economic territory must be excluded from the accounting framework.

Please see the table in 3.8.1.

The Environmental Accounts must be updated periodically, in order to include pertinent methodological and statistical changes, and in particular, base changes of the economic accounts.

The results correspond to the 2019 Benchmark Revision (ESA 2010), being in line with National Accounts data.

The unit of measure is thousand tonnes.

The data refer to the calendar years.

Economy-wide material flow accounts (EW-MFA) are legally covered by Regulation (EU) 691/2011 on European Environmental Economic Accounts.

Not applicable in national level this information is required at European level only.

The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

The Environmental Accounts are a statistical operation included in the National Statistical Plan, therefore subject to the Law on Public Statistical Services of May 9 1989, and consequently, their data is protected by Statistical Secrecy, at all stages of compilation:

https://www.ine.es/dyngs/IOE/en/operacion.htm?id=1259942700806

The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.

The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)

The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice.

Regarding the INE website, EW-MFA data was published in December 14th.

A specific access to the EW-MFA was created on the INE website. With this link, Environmental Statistics and Environmental Accounts are separated, so that the Accounts can be more relevant and the users can have a better access to the data.

Data is available on the INE website, in Spanish and in English, in the following links:

http://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176943&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976603

http://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176943&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976603

The data is disseminated annually.

The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web.

Users of the Environmental Accounts may access the data from the Material Flow Accounts through the INE website:

https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176943&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976603

Specifically, the following sections appear in the Material Flow Accounts:

- Press release and main results: this contains a summary of the Results obtained during the reference period.

- Detailed results, presenting the complete set of results of the different account series available.

- Results of the pilot studies conducted, prior to the entry into force of Regulation 691/2011 regarding environmental economic accounts

INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.

Access to tables and results in INEbase (www.ine.es) / Agriculture and environment / Environmental accounts / Material flow accounts:

https://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/en/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176943&menu=resultados&idp=1254735976603

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

A lot of statistical operations disseminate public domain anonymized files, available free of charge for downloading in the INE website Microdata Section.

Due to the nature of the Environmental Accounts, microdata is not available.

The policy regarding custom requests is to analyse whether they comply with the statistical secrecy and significance conditions. Following this analysis, a viability report is prepared and sent to the person who has made the request.

Requests are made through the User Care Area:

https://www.ine.es/ss/Satellite?c=Page&p=1254735638180&pagename=ProductosYServicios%2FPYSLayout&cid=1254735638180&L=1

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Those manuals compiled by Eurostat may be viewed on its website, through the following link:

“Economy-wide Material Flow Accounts (EW-MFA), Handbook 2018 edition”

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Fields 10.6  to 17 from this document are the quality report targeting the user for this operation.

Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.

The quality of the synthesis statistics, such as the environmental accounts, is first derived from the multiple sources used. All of them have tried to achieve the most accurate information possible, minimising the different types of error that may affect them. On the other hand, the corresponding regulations are followed in preparing said data.

The Commission (Eurostat) evaluates the quality of the data transmitted, and during the period of one month following the receipt thereof, it may ask the Member State for additional information regarding the data or a set of revised data, as pertinent (Article 7.4 of European Regulation no. 691/2011).

The estimates of material flow account are based on the methodology designed by Eurostat, using the principles, rules and classifications of national accounts, which ensures their internal consistency and with other modules of the environmental accounts, as well as comparability with aggregates of national accounts.

The environmental accounts enable observing the pressure that the economy exerts on the environment, and studying the means to reduce it. They show the interactions between the economy, households and environmental factors, and subsequently offer a greater degree of information than the national accounts in this area.

As a fundamental data source regarding the environment, these are basic for decision-making in environmental policy and in the development of impact assessments, on both national and international levels. According to the principles of sustainable development included in the Europe 2020 Strategy, and in other initiatives, as well as the advance toward an economy that is efficient in the use of resources and low in emissions, it is increasingly necessary to develop and implement a framework structure of data that systematically includes environmental issues as well as economics issues.

Moreover, as they constitute a synthesis statistical operation in the environmental field, they enable identifying gaps and improvements in the Spanish statistical system.

Worth noting among environmental account users are the following:

• Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing and Food, Ministry for Ecological Transition and other public bodies (observatories, etc.)

• Territorial administrations (Autonomous Communities)

• Researchers and Academic institutions

• Companies and non-profit institutions (company research services, foundations, associations, etc.), trade unions and employers' organisations.

• Press and specialised media

Likewise, there are foreign institutional users (Eurostat, OECD, the United Nations, etc.).

The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...

On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click  next link)

 The user satisfaction surveys conducted to date assess the Environmental sector in which the statistical operation is set in, which may provide direction with regard to the opinion users have of it.

In the next website of INE: Methods and projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys

it is possible consult the last available user surveys.

The Material Flow Accounts meet the information requirements demanded by European Parliament and Council Regulation (EU) no. 691/2011, of 6 July 2011, regarding the European economic environmental accounts, and therefore, it may be stated that they are comprehensive.

The rate of available compulsory statistical results is 100% (R1=100%).

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

The environmental accounts are a synthesis statistical operation, by which sampling errors that affect it come from the sources that the information is collected from, which are analysed in order to see if they remain within reasonable limits. Non-sampling errors may come from both the sources and the actual information processing in this operation (lack of coverage, measurement errors). In summary, the direct measurement of accuracy in this case is not considered possible. The main instrument for analysing the accuracy is the analysis of the revisions (see 17.2). The revisions show the degree of proximity between subsequent estimators of the same value, and it is reasonable to assume that the estimators converge on the true value when they are based on better and more reliable data.

Please see Annex 3 for more detail of the overall quality of the reported data. 

The environmental accounts are a synthesis statistical operation, by which sampling errors that affect it come from the sources that the information is collected from, which are analysed in order to see if they remain within reasonable limits.

Not applicable.

The environmental accounts are a synthesis statistical operation, by which sampling errors that affect it may come from both the sources and the actual information treatment in this operation (lack of coverage, measurement errors).

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The estimates of the Material Flow Account are sent to Eurostat, at most 24 months following the end of the reference year, in compliance with EU Regulation 691/2011 regarding European economic environmental accounts, regulating the periods for transmitting data.

The indicator of the time elapsed between the end of the reference period and the dissemination in INEbase is TP1=12 months for early estimates.

TP2=48 months

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The results of the Environmental Accounts are published in a timely manner, according to the INE structural statistics publication calendar.

https://www.ine.es/en/daco/daco41/calen_en.htm

Data was ready by December 2023, when it was published in INE’s web page.

SPAIN transmitted the data to Eurostat on 23/04/2024 .

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Data on EW-MFA are compiled according to harmonised guidelines provided by Eurostat and hence comparable across European countries reporting EW-MFA data to Eurostat.

Not applicable because physical imports and exports as recorded in EW-MFA are not specified by origin and/or destination.

Please see the table in 15.2.1.1.

The basic methodology for the compilation of the estimates has not changed since the first estimates of Material Flow Accounts as a pilot study, although new accounting series are coherent with Benchmark Revision (ESA 2010) of National Accounts data.

Therefore, the number of comparable elements of the time series since its last break is 15 (CC2=15) for every concept but Table A vegetables and fruits (not affecting the total Biomass data) which will be revised next year.

Series 2000-2007 (before Regulation) were calculated as pilot studies with previous estimates and are not homogeneous with the new series 2008-2022 reported in 2024 questionnaire. 

Work will be done to adjust data from 2000-2007 to the current basis, but until this work is over, there are not yet long series to study trends from early years.

The basic methodology for the compilation of the estimates has not changed since the first estimates of Material Flow Accounts as a pilot study, although new accounting series are coherent with Benchmark Revision (ESA 2010) of  National Accounts data.

Therefore, the number of comparable elements of the time series since its last break is 15 (CC2=15)

Please use below table for explaining b)-flags (breaks in time series):

The Environmental Accounts are coherent with the National Accounts.

Not applicable; reported EW-MFA data are only annual.

The Environmental Accounts are coherent with the National Accounts.

The annual results of the material flow accounts are coherent among themselves, and with regard to the available annual series.

In the 2023 annual Program, the estimate of the necessary budget appropriation to finance the Environmental Accounts operation: Material Flow Accounts  is 31,37  thousand euros.

The response burden is null, as the information provided by other statistical operations is used.

The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).

This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow:  routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.

The data from the Environmental Accounts is revised in coherence with the data revision scheme of the Annual National Accounts.

Regulation (EU) 691/2011 establishes that, in each annual data transmission, data be provided for years n-4, n-3, n-2, n-1 and n, with n being the reference year

The factors determining the revisions in the MFA estimates are basically the changes in the data from the Annual National Accounts, and the changes introduced by the improvement of the estimation procedures.

The first time that the data of a reference year t are published, in t+12 months, the data from the material flow account are early estimates, becoming provisional in successive years until the final data are published three years and 12 months (t+48) following the end of the corresponding reference year.

The practical way of proceeding consists of publishing the data, indicating their final, provisional or early nature. Each annual estimate is revised for four consecutive years, from early estimates until it ceases to be considered provisional and acquires the final nature.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Data sources used to produce economy-wide material flow accounts are described in the sub-concepts 18.1.1 (and Annex) and 18.1.2.

Please use Annex 1 to report the detailed data sources for questionnaire tables A, B, D, F and G.

Not applicable

The data is compiled annually

The data collection techniques may vary, depending on the type of source, the date that the data is available, etc.

In general, the data is sent to the Environmental Accounts unit by the different units compiling it, though on occasion, the information may be obtained directly from the corresponding database

The base information, from the different statistics, is subjected to a series of processes: identification of outliers, error filtering, adaptation to the terms of the Environmental Accounts

The preparation process may be structured into several phases:

1. Update of the base information: Collection of available data

2. Processing of the base information: this is subjected to a series of treatments, consisting of identifying outliers, filtering errors and adapting to the terms of the Environmental Accounts.

3. Preparation of the general structure file. With the new information available, the work file is completed with the breakdown level required in the European accounts Regulation. For each type of material, and for the purpose of obtaining more precision in the estimates, auxiliary files are used to work with the greatest breakdown level possible of the different identifiable components thereof.

4. Process of analysing and revising the estimates. The time series of results are analysed, for each product and operation, with the objective of detecting possible inconsistencies.

5. Preparation of the final results files with the different formats required: format for mailing to Eurostat, and files for dissemination in INEbase (Results, Methodology, Press Release)

Not applicable.

More information about estimation approaches for those characteristics in Table A 'Domestic Extraction' which cannot be delivered directly from statistical sources can be found in Annex 2.

For imports and exports, we use the External Trade Statistics published by the Ministry of the Treasury and Public Administration with data from the Tax agency, offers specific information to estimate the amount of products imported and exported into physical units of biomass, metallic and non-metallic minerals, fossil fuels and other products, by types of product in Combined Nomenclature.

We employ Annex 4 to assign traded goods to material categories and no conversion into tonnes is needed.

It is not necessary to convert traded goods into tonnes.

As suggested in the compilation guide, the residence adjustment for fuel consumption has been done using data arisen during the compilation of Air emission accounts which are in turn consistent with the Physical energy flow accounts.

Residence principle is the main problem when adapting basic statistics to the concepts of the accounts. In many statistics geographical principles are used.

Not applicable; i.e. in EW-MFA no time series adjustment necessary.

Not applicable.