National Statistics Office – Malta

Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries Statistics Unit

National Statistics Office - Malta

Lascaris, Valletta, VLT2000

Malta

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) sent 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.

Republic of Malta.

Please see the table in 3.8.1.

Not applicable because EW-MFA are not reported as indices.

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 at the national level as this information is required at the European level only.

Confidentiality with regard to businesses is applied according to the ‘(n,k) dominance rule’, whereby a total is considered as confidential if the biggest 2 contributors to the cell (normally representing a total or sum) account for at least 80% of the total value. In addition to this no information at granular level (including names of businesses and/or commercial entities) is provided to external users.

For personal/micro data, the linear combination of all variables (subject to the level of identification of each variable) included in a specific dataset must be considered such that any unique or rare combinations of characteristics are supressed to rule out the possibility of any direct identification of data subjects and limit the occurrence of any indirect identification. 

No variables have been flagged as confidential in the EW-MFA 2023 questionnaire for Malta.

An Advance Release Calendar projecting three months of news releases (including the current and two subsequent months) is maintained by the NSO and may be found on the organisation’s website. It is the practice of the NSO to publish one news release on a given working day.

Additional releases are published only when exceptional circumstances warrant this.

The NSO may, from time to time, include ad hoc news releases focussing on thematic statistical content that are not included in the Advance Release Calendar. In such cases, the ad hoc news releases shall be inserted in the Calendar with at least one week in advance notice to inform all users. 

NSO’s news release calendar can be accessed from this link:

https://nso.gov.mt/en/News_Releases/Release_Calendar/Pages/News-Release-Calendar.aspx

NSO’s primary channel of dissemination for official statistics is the NSO website (https://nso.gov.mt) on which official statistics are published and made available to the public free of charge.

The NSO website allows users to access an online statistical database, StatDb (https://statdb.nso.gov.mt/start) that includes statistical information on various domains for the more expert users or researchers to engage in more detailed analyses. No registration is required to access the StatDb. The Office also makes use of several social media platforms to communicate with its users and to present its output.

All outputs produced by the NSO include statistical information without any reference to the implications of the statistics being published on the current state of the economy, society or policies be they governmental or otherwise.

The public is free to use, copy and quote the information published provided that the NSO is quoted as the source. It should be understood, however, that any calculations and conclusions drawn by users on the basis of NSO data are the intellectual product of the users themselves.

Tailored requests for statistical information may be submitted through the NSO website (https://workflow.gov.mt/Runtime/Runtime/Form/01+NSO+Request+for+Statistical+Information/?language=en). 

NSO’s main means of information dissemination is the news release, described as a concise summary of statistical information on a particular topic. Lengthier publications are also published by NSO with less frequency. NSO publications are available in electronic format, but in some cases, a hard copy may also be produced. 

EW-MFA are disseminated annually by means of indicators which can be accessed from the NSO website. 

The NSO does not publish any news releases on EW-MFA.

The NSO does not publish data on EW-MFA in publications.

The NSO publishes data on EW-MFA by means of indicators that can be accessed from the NSO website. These indicators are about domestic material consumption, resource productivity and domestic material extraction.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

All information available to the NSO is used for statistical purposes only and the MSA Act precludes the NSO from sharing any information that can relate to an identifiable person or undertaking. 

Anonymised files containing microdata are provided for statistical/ research/ non-commercial purposes. These are produced in such a form that the information related to an identifiable person/undertaking is suppressed.

Microdata access is only granted under strict conditions to a selected number of institutions or persons accredited as research entities or researchers respectively as defined on the NSO website: (https://nso.gov.mt/en/Services/Microdata/Pages/Access-to-Microdata.aspx).

Access to anonymised microdata is granted subject to the terms of reference included in the application form found on the NSO website and a contract agreement that is signed by both parties.

Access is normally granted for a definite period which is specified in the agreement.

Not applicable.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Not available.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Not available.

The following quality assurance activities are implemented annually for the compilation of the EW-MFA results:

1. Initial data validation: arithmetic checks, internal coherence checks, comparability over time for all source data
2. Computations are automated and done within the inventories where source data is inputted. Final outputs re extracted by means of pivot tables.
3. Final data validation: Results are compared to the last submission of EW-MFA data to identify revised data. Revised data are checked for correctness. Amendments are carried out if necessary.
4. Data is inputted into the EW-MFA questionnaire; footnotes are inputted as well. The checking macro is run and flagged data is either amended or justified by means of footnotes.

Data which is reported in the EW-MFA can be described into two major classes: primary data and estimated data.

Primary data is collected by means of actual measurements or is reported by observation units in sample surveys or censuses. The following data falls under this category:

• Agricultural production
• Wild fish catches
• Non-metallic minerals production
• Bird hunting catches
• International trade (imports and exports)
• Waste disposal into landfills
• Emissions to water from Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants
• Sales of pesticides

In certain instances, primary data is considered to have a higher degree of accuracy than estimated data because there is a higher degree of control over the data collection process. For example, in the case of the data collection about the non-metallic minerals production was specifically designed with the EW-MFA questionnaire requirements in mind. However, there are other instances where primary data may suffer from a lack of accuracy. A case in point is the International trade data where late data submission, non-response and inconsistencies in the reporting by weight when compared to the value in Euros affect the accuracy of the data. 

Estimated data is mainly derived by applying a set of factors and/or formulas to primary data which in general was collected for a different purpose. In the case of the EW-MFA the following datasets fall under this category:

• Air emission accounts and air emissions inventories’ data
• Dissipative use of seeds
• Use of organic fertiliser (manure)
• Dissipative use of mineral fertiliser

Due to the scope of the requested data, it is practically impossible to have data which is based on actual measurements for these variables, and so estimation techniques are applied. Whilst the use of these techniques does not imply a lack of quality, if the factors used for estimations are not derived from the local scenario, then the accuracy of the estimates is surely affected.   

The most important quality criteria that are applied by the NSO throughout statistical processing are mainly focused towards achieving the highest completeness rate with the available data, the internal coherence of the tables, achieving the highest accuracy possible with the available resources, data which is comparable over time and punctuality in the data delivery (both from the data suppliers to NSO and from the NSO to Eurostat).

The EW-MFA is compiled by the National Statistics Office (NSO) primarily as an EU reporting obligation. The Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) indicator also forms part of the State of the Environment Report which was published by the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) in November 2018.

The NSO does not have measures in place to determine user satisfaction with Economy-wide material flow accounts. Neither does the NSO have any feedback about the data produced since it does not publish them locally.

Data on all mandatory variables is being transmitted. With regard to adjustments for the residency principle in Tables B and D, these are being provided for the period 2016-2020 and are coherent with reporting under PEFA. In tables from A to G data is reported from 2000 onward. In Table I the complete dataset is available from 2008 onward.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Please use Annex 3 for providing an assessment of the overall quality of the reported data. 

Not applicable because data are not based on a sample survey.

Not applicable because data are not based on a sample survey.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Data is transmitted to Eurostat 16 months after the end of the reference year (t+16 months).

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Data is usually delivered on time, before the 30th April of every year.

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.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

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

EW-MFA data are coherent with International trade data, where data for all CN codes is reported as general trade, while data for those codes falling under Chapter 27 is reported as special trade. EW-MFA data are also coherent with Agriculture production statistics and wild fish catch statistics which are reported to the FAO. Data on minerals production are also coherent with the data that is provided to the United States Geological Survey and the British Geological Survey.

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

The accounting framework of EW-MFA is consistent with the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA-CF) adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission as a world-level statistical standard in March 2012. EW-MFA are consistent with the European system of accounts (ESA) and hence suited to be combined with ESA aggregates.

There are no outstanding consistency issues in the results provided.

NSO’s work for the production of Economy-wide material flow accounts is equivalent to 0.3 FTE.

The NSO published its data revision policy in July 2022. This main concern of this policy is the release of data to the public mainly through publications and news releases and it does not specifically cover data reporting to international institutions such as Eurostat. Regarding annual data reporting to Eurostat, such as in the case of the EW-MFA, data revisions on past data are carried out when the next reporting is due, unless the amounts to be revised are deemed to have a considerable impact upon water statistics. In such cases Eurostat is notified and revisions are done during the year. Such cases may be triggered by Eurostat itself as part of the data validation process. Data revisions are documented and described in the annual quality report. 

In practice data is revised annually, wherever the need arises, with every new data transmission to Eurostat. Data may also be revised after Eurostat concludes its validation round and sends comments and proposals to Member States. International trade data for the latest published year is revised (e.g. in the EW-MFA 2023 questionnaire the international trade data for 2020 was revised); data for the preceding years is considered as final.

Revisions in the 2023 EW-MFA questionnaire:

Table A: MF.3.1 - Revisions due to the availability of new data about the extraction of building stone - 2003-2009

Table A: MF.3.8 - Revisions due to the availability of new data about the extraction of sand and gravel - 2003-2009

Table A: MF.3A - Revision due to the availability of new data about the use of excavated earthen material - 2020

Table B: Various codes - Revisions in international trade statistics are a routine procedure. Regular revisions to annual trade data may be carried out for up to two (2) years after the reference period - 2020

Table D: Various codes - Revisions in international trade statistics are a routine procedure. Regular revisions to annual trade data may be carried out for up to two (2) years after the reference period - 2020

Table F: MF.7.1 - Values were revised in accordance with the latest version of the Air Emission Accounts as produced by the NSO - 2000-2019

Table F: MF.7.3.1 - Revisions in wastewater discharge statistics due to updates in estimation methodology - 2013-2020

Table F: MF. 7.3.2 - Revisions in wastewater discharge statistics due to updates in estimation methodology - 2013-2020

Table F: MF.7.3.4 and MF.7.4.1 - Values were revised because of revisions in data relating to manure that is sourced from the UNFCCC Greenhouse gas inventory - 2000-2020

Table F: MF.7.4.2 - Revisions took place because certain CN codes were being left out of the apparent consumption computation - 2004-2020

Table F: MF. 7.4.6 - Values were revised as a result of new data that was sourced from national sources and due to a change in the method of estimating the dissipative use of seeds - 2000-2020

Table F: MF.7.4.8 - Values were revised as a result of revisions in the CLRTAP data reporting for Malta - 2000-2020

Table F: MF.7.5 - Values were revised as a result of revisions in the CLRTAP data reporting for Malta - 2000-2019

Table G: MF.8.1.1 - Values were revised in response to revisions in Air Emission Accounts data - 2000-2019

Table G: MF.8.1.2 - Revisions took place because data about animal heads was revised in the UNFCCC Greenhouse gas inventory - 2000-2019

Table G: MF.8.2.2 - Revisions took place because data about animal heads was revised in the UNFCCC Greenhouse gas inventory - 2000-2019

Table I: Imports in RME - Values were revised as a result of revised input data into the RME country tool - 2008-2019

Table I: Raw Material Input (RMI) - Values were revised as a result of revised input data into the RME country tool - 2008-2019

Table I: Raw Material Consumption (RMC) - Values were revised as a result of revised input data into the RME country tool - 2008-2019

Table I: Exports in RME - Values were revised as a result of revised input data into the RME country tool - 2008-2019

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Data sources used to produce EW-MFA 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.

The NSO uses the RME tool and RME data as provided by Eurostat annually.

Data for all variables is collected annually, except for non-metallic minerals production data which is collected every two years.

Data is sourced from the statistics which NSO collects from various domains. Most of the data comes from the Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries Statistics Unit and from the International Trade Statistics Unit. The only data collection which was initiated as result of the EW-MFA was the census of quarry owners which is held every two years in order to collect information about the production of newly quarried non-metallic minerals in Malta. Data is also sourced annually from external sources which comprise the UNFCCC greenhouse gas inventory and the CLRTAP reporting. 

Data which is collected by other agencies and government departments is transmitted to NSO after having gone through internal validation procedures. After the data is received by NSO, it is also subjected to validation procedures. These include the checking of totals and sub-totals, checks about the internal coherence of data (for example the balancing of water production, consumption and stocks data), and checks about the annual consistency of the data. In cases where major spikes or drops are noted, explanations and/or revisions are sought from the data providers.

After the results are compiled into the questionnaire, they are compared to those of the latest approved EW-MFA version in order to identify instances of revised data. Revised data is checked from source and then confirmed or amended. The second validation round is carried out after the checking macro is applied in the Excel questionnaire. All flagged values are checked, and then amended if necessary. Flagged values which are not amended are justified by means of footnotes. 

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

See Annex 2.

No adjustment was necessary.

No adjustment was necessary.

Residence adjustments for fuel trade were made for the period 2016-2020, after the data in Table E of the PEFA questionnaires for these reference years was converted from Terajoules to 1000 Metric Tonnes.

Table A: ‘Estimated data’ is reported under Non-metallic minerals from 2000 to 2009. Reliable data for this category is available from the results of the census of quarry owners which is held bi-annually. The available data from these censuses covers the period 2010-2020.  Data for previous years includes estimated production levels for 2000 and 2001 by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority and imputations for the period 2002-2009. 

With regard to hunting and gathering, data from 2000 to 2003 has been annually estimated as 13.8 tonnes, which is the average of the reported values from 2004 to 2014. Even if amounts may fluctuate considerably from one year to the next the highest amount recorded during this period was 23.4 tonnes which would still be reported as a zero when converted into the reporting unit (1000 tonnes) which is requested by the EW-MFA questionnaire.

Tables B and D: Intra-EU trade statistics stem from Intrastat declarations made by traders.  A main source of error that affects the accuracy of this data is late or non-response.  Intra-EU as well as Extra-EU trade data accuracy, is also affected by specific characteristics of this statistical field, such as the exemption thresholds applicable in order to reduce the burden on enterprises.  

In these tables, data from 2000 to 2003 is flagged as ‘Data provided by Eurostat’ since this data was provided by Eurostat during the validation phases of the EW-MFA2014 and EW-MFA2015.  All tables have missing data for MFA code MF.4.2.3 (Adjustment for residence principle) for all years except the period 2016-2020. Data for previous years shall become available over the coming years.

Table F: Amounts for MF.7.3.3 are reported as zeros. In fact, no regular data on the discharge of heavy metals to water is collected in Malta. The existing data is from the National Baseline Budget report of 2008 which was drawn up as part of the requirements of the Marine Framework Strategy Directive. According to this report the sum of the heavy metals that are discharged into the sea do not exceed 28 tonnes per year. Since 2008 the local situation has changed and discharge of heavy metals into the sea is likely to have decreased. So, because of the insignificant amounts of heavy metals that were discharged, amounts in this category are being reported as zeros.   

The reported amounts of MF.7.3.4 (Other substances and (organic) materials) are calculated as 5% of the total estimated production of manure as per guidelines included in the EW-MFA Manual. Data for emissions of organic material originating from other sources is not available since data on the TOC of discharged urban wastewater is not available.

Regarding MF.7.4.2 (Mineral fertilizer), data for the apparent use (imports – exports) is used to report the dissipative use of mineral fertilizer, and so the data is sourced from international trade statistics. No further data sources exist, also because there is no local production of such substances. Data for MF.7.4.6 (Seeds) refers to the dissipative use of seeds for the growing of fodder crops and potatoes which are the major crops that are grown locally.

Data for MF 7.5 (Dissipative losses) is sourced from CLRTAP and covers road transport. Malta has no data about corrosion, abrasion and erosion of buildings, even if these amounts are likely to be significant due to the soft nature of the Globigerina limestone from which most buildings in Malta have been built. Data on leakages due to the transport of goods does not exist, however these amounts are considered to be insignificant since transport of gas by pipeline does not occur, distances covered by road freight are small and reported accidents involving transportation vehicles are minimal.   

Table G: Data has been filled in by means of the Table G estimation tool. The calculated values for MF.8.2.1 (Water vapour from combustion) are based upon the DMC of energy carriers in the absence of data on ‘Energy use’ from PEFA. This approach has resulted in negative values occurring from 2008 to 2010 due to exports being higher than imports (Malta has no domestic extraction of these commodities).

It should be noted that imports and exports data for fruit and vegetable juices and beverages from 2000 to 2003 are expressed in litres whereas data from 2004 onwards is expressed in kilograms.

Table I: Malta has no custom-built RME calculation model so Eurostat’s country RME tool and RME input data have been used in order to generate the required data. 

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

Not applicable.

No further comments.