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Sustainable consumption and production

13. Resource use

Domestic Material Consumption and Gross Domestic Product, 1990 to 2007

Resource Use 1

Resource use 2

Domestic Material Consumption since:

1990

 Green 2003 Amber

Stone, sand and gravel extraction

Construction output and extraction of construction materials, 1990 to 2007

Resource use 4

13-4a

Contextual indicator

  • Domestic Material Consumption (DMC) is the total mass of materials directly consumed by the economy (indirect material use such as waste from manufacture of imported goods are not accounted for).
  • The economy (Gross Domestic Product) grew by 53 per cent in real terms between 1990 and 2007. In contrast DMC was 12 per cent lower in 2007 than in 1990 having remained relatively stable since 1993 - with reductions in use of UK resources balanced by increases in imports.  Whilst this shows that the economy has grown without a direct increase in resources since net imports have risen significantly over the period it is likely that the associated waste has also increased.
  • Mineral extraction, primarily used for construction, accounted for 40 per cent of DMC in 2007. The level of construction mineral extraction decreased by 20 per cent between 1990 and 2007.
  • The amount of material extracted and the value of output (GVA) from the construction industry were closely linked until the late 1980s. However, since 1994 the two have diverged markedly, with output value increasing steadily whilst being less dependent on minerals extraction.

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Updated: 30 July 2009