Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic

Cross-sectional Statistics Department

Lamačská cesta 3/C, 840 05 Bratislava 45, Slovakia

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.

Slovakia.

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 in national level, this information is required at European level only.

The Statistical Office of the SR is responsible for the protection of confidential data obtained and guarantees their use exclusively for statistical purposes. In accordance with the Act on State Statistics No. 540/2001 Coll. §2g and §30, the Statistical Office of the SR may not publish confidential statistical data, but only information resulting from the aggregation of confidential statistical data, which does not allow direct or indirect identification of the reporting unit.

The Statistical Office of the SR has introduced principles and procedures for the protection of confidential data in internal directives and instructions. The directive on the protection of confidential statistical data regulates the method of management and implementation of activities related to ensuring the protection of confidential statistical data in the Statistical Office of the SR. The internal methodological instruction of the Statistical Office of the SR regulates specific methods and parameter values ​​used in the protection of confidential statistical data of individual statistical surveys and data sets.

The document "Principles of applying protection of confidential statistical data" is available on the website of the Statistical Office of the SR (only available in Slovak).

Compiled EW-MFA questionnaire for Slovakia doesn't contain confidential statistical data (no data are flagged as "confidential").

Not applicable. EW-MFA statistics is not included in the First release calendar of the Statistical Office of the SR.

Not applicable.

The principles of release and provision of statistical information are available for users on the website of the Statistical Office of the SR: www.statistics.sk: Services > Information Services > Principles of Release and Provision of Statistical Information.

As regards EW-MFA statistics, the statistical data are disseminated at national level to all users at the same time (data are published on the date specified in the Public database update schedule).

Annually.

No news release at national level. 

Statistical Office of the SR publishes regularly (annually in December) the thematic EW-MFA publication with the title "Environmental Accounts - Material Flow Accounts" which is available for public on the website of the Statistical Office of the SR (access: www.statistics.sk - Statistics > Environment > Environment > Publications).

The publication is issued in accordance with the Catalogue of Publications of the Statistical Office of the SR (access: www.statistics.sk - Products > Publications of the Catalogues).

EW-MFA data are published regularly (annually in December) in online database of the Statistical Office of the SR - DATAcube:

(access: www.statistics.sk - Databases > DATAcube.: 5 - Environment)

• table "Material Flow Accounts - domestic extraction" [zp1003rs],
• table "Material Flow Accounts - Import and Export" [zp1004rs],
• table "Domestic material consumption by material" [zp1008rs].

Selected indicators calculated on the basis of EW-MFA data are available on the Information portal of the Ministry of the Environment of the SR - Enviroportal:

(access: www.enviroportal.sk - Indicators)

• Key indicators - Resource productivity, Domestic materail consumption,
• Circular economy indicators - Resource productivity, Material footprint,
• Indicators of Environmental Strategy 2030 - Resource productivity.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Not applicable.

No other dissemination format.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

The national documentation on methodology for EW-MFA is not available. The EW-MFA for Slovakia are compiled in accordance with Eurostat methodology.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Metadata/Quality report for users of EW-MFA statistics is published on the website of the Statistical Office of the SR - access: www.statistics.sk > Metadata > Quality Reports > Material Flow Accounts.

Statistical Office of the SR has implemented the Quality Management System (QMS) which is based on the International Standardization Organization standard - ISO 9001. The QMS has been certified by the certification body every three years starting with 2006. Respecting the process approach principle and Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model, the system covers issues related to management, resources, operation and measurement, analysis and improvement. The system has been enhanced by the inclusion of requirements of the European Statistics Code of Practice and of selected elements of other advanced quality management systems. The QMS is described in the Quality manual (only available in Slovak). The application of the quality manual in practice ensures that all activities that have an impact on the quality of statistical products are planned, managed, examined and assessed.

Also, the following documents are part of the QMS: Quality policy of the Statistical Office of the SR, Quality Declaration of the Statistical Office of the SR, Vision and strategic/quality objectives of the Statistical Office of the SR.

According to our assessment the quality of EW-MFA data for Slovakia is good.

Good quality of EW-MFA statistics is ensured by using reliable source data, applying proper methodology for data compilation. Compiled EW-MFA data are thoroughly checked and validated at the national level and also by Eurostat.

Domestic material consumption is one of the global indicators of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, under the goal 12 - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. Resource productivity is included in the set of Circular economy indicators.

The key user of the EW-MFA data for Slovakia is Eurostat. Important user of this product at national level is the Ministry of the Environment of the SR and mainly its organization Slovak Environmental Agency (SEA). The SEA compiles and publishes national environmental indicators for monitoring and evaluating the progress towards meeting environmental objectives. Environmental indicators are also very important for planning and setting national policy goals in environmental area. EW-MFA related indicators are included in the set of national key environmental indicators, in the set of circular economy indicators and in the set of indicators of Environmental Strategy 2030.

The customer's satisfaction survey specifically regarding EW-MFA statistics is not carried out. In general, feedback of users of EW-MFA data is positive.

Submitted EW-MFA data for Slovakia are complete and meet the requirements of the relevant legislation - Regulation 691/2011 on European environmental economic accounts, Annex III.

All mandatory data are reported in the EW-MFA questionnaire 2024 for Slovakia.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Overall, the accuracy of EW-MFA data for Slovakia is considered to be good. Though the EW-MFA are compiled by using a variety of data sources, all of them are official statistics produced by institutions within national statistical system (Statistical Office of the SR or relevant ministries and their organizations). Compiled EW-MFA are thoroughly checked to prevent errors and verified in the Statistical Office of the SR and also in Eurostat.

According to our assessment, data for all mandatory characteristics are of sufficient quality - thus it was not necessary to fill in and enclose the Annex 3.

Not applicable for EW-MFA statistics.

Not applicable.

Not applicable for EW-MFA statistics.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Compiled mandatory EW-MFA tables A (Domestic Extraction), B (Imports) and D (Exports) are available 12 months after the end of the reference year. 

Not applicable. Preliminary data are not compiled.

Final data are available 12 months after the end of the reference year.

Transmission deadline for EW-MFA data according to amended regulation 691/2011 (t+16 months) was met. Slovakia submitted the compiled EW-MFA questionnaire 2024 (ref. year 2022) to Eurostat on 04. March 2024.

At national level, EW-MFA data are published on time, in accordance with the schedule.

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.

No significant changes in methodology or data sources applied for compiling the EW-MFA data for Slovakia have occurred in available time series.

Please see the table in item 15.2.1.1 regarding breaks in time series.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

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

Data are coherent with the system of national accounts and satellite system of environmental-economic accounts.

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

EW-MFA are compiled in accordance with the principles of the system of national accounts.

Data are internally coherent. For particular MFA category, the same data source is applied in whole time series (there is no differ in data sources for different year in the time series).

Staff engaged in EW-MFA statistics - 1 expert on environmental statistics and accounts and 1 expert on foreign trade statistics. The working time needed for the production of EW-MFA is roughly 1.5 Person-Months (work on collection and production of source data is not included).

Burden on respondents - not applicable. No specific statistical survey for the purpose of obtaining data for EW-MFA is conducted. EW-MFA are compiled by using already existing statistics.

No specific national revision policy for EW-MFA is established. EW-MFA data are submitted to Eurostat as final, preliminary data are not reported thus no regular/planned revisions are performed.

In case that some revisions are necessary (e.g. resulting from data validation), the concerned data are revised/corrected and the revised version of the questionnaire is submitted to Eurostat.

Revisions in the EW-MFA questionnaire 2024 (in comparison with previous version of the questionnaire - version June 2023):

• Table A - Domestic Extraction, years 2020 and 2021 - revisions of values for the items M.F.2.2.4 - Zinc and M.F.2.2.6 - Gold, silver, platinum and other precious metals: the following change was applied - data on zinc are not reported separately; only value for "mixed" ore as whole is available (this "mixed" ore is processed to gold, silver but also to copper, zinc and lead) and we see as most appropriate to assign this value to the MFA category 2.2.6.
• Table F - Domestic Processed Output, period 2000-2020 - revisions of values for the items under category MF.7.1 - Emissions to air: revisions in line with the actual AEA data - from AEA questionnaire 2023.

Will be calculated and provided by EUROSTAT.

Data sources used to produce EW-MFA are described in the sub-item 18.1.1 (Annex 1).

Data compiled in EW-MFA are obtained from variety of data sources - from internal data sources of the Statistical Office of the SR (agriculture statistics, foreign trade statistics) and also from external data sources (State Geological Institute, National Forest Centre).

Data sources are listed in detail in the enclosed Annex 1.

Voluntary data (MFA in RME) in table I are not reported.

Statistical surveys and other data sources listed in Annex 1 (annex in the sub-concept 18.1.1) that are used for compiling the EW-MFA for Slovakia have different frequency of data collection:

• statistical survey on crop production - annual periodicity,
• statistical survey on supplies of wood in forestry - quarterly periodicity,
• statistical survey on stock of game and hunting ground, state of game and game hunting - annual periodicity,
• INTRASTAT system - declaration on arrival and dispatch of goods - monthly periodicity,
• EXTRASTAT system - customs declarations from the Customs Section of the Financial Directorate of SR - monthly periodicity,
• balance of the reserves of exclusive deposits SR and non-reserved mineral deposits - conducted on annual basis.

EW-MFA data are compiled annually for given reference year.

EW-MFA are compiled by using data from already existing national data sources (see the sub-concept 18.1.1). Data collections in relevant statistical surveys are conducted according to the Programme of State Statistical Surveys.

No specific statistical survey for the purpose of obtaining data for EW-MFA is carried out.

The source data used for compilation of EW-MFA are checked and verified within the process of collection and processing of respective data. 

Compiled EW-MFA data for Slovakia are thoroughly checked and validated by the Statistical Office of the SR and also Eurostat. Data filled in the EW-MFA questionnaire are also checked by applying the built-in checking tool incorporated in the questionnaire.

The source data collected in the statistical surveys or obtained from other data sources listed in the item 18.1.1. are compiled into required aggregates for domestic extraction, imports and exports broken down by material categories.

Not applicable.

Estimation approaches for characteristics in Table A 'Domestic extraction' for which data are not available in existing data sources are described in the enclosed Annex 2.

We employ Eurostat’s correspondence table (Annex 4 "Correspondence between Combined Nomenclature and EW-MFA classification for imports and exports" to the EW-MFA questionnaire) to assign traded goods to material categories.

We don't apply conversion factors.

Data on import and export are available directly in weight units (kg) in national foreign trade statistics, therefore it is not necessary to convert the data.

Data on fuel trade are not available for Slovakia.

We are not able to estimate the data because of lack in necessary auxiliary data/information. However it is not very significant item within the EW-MFA for Slovakia.

No significant problems.

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

Not applicable.

No comments.