Comparability

Comparability - geographical

The Material Flow Account is prepared in accordance with existing international standards and follows the UN's standards for environmental economic accounts, the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA). The account is reported to Eurostat and is comparable to statistics from other countries that adhere to the same standards.

Comparability over time

The Material Flow Account is available for each year from 1993 onwards up to the most recent publication year. For these years, the account has been compiled consistently, and full comparability over time applies.

The Material Flow Account compiled in raw material equivalents is available from 2008 onwards. In the 2026 release, the years from 2010 onwards were recalculated on the basis of a new data foundation, including benchmark revised national accounts data and a new source for the compilation of external trade in goods. The figures from 2010 onwards are therefore comparable with each other, whereas the figures for 2008 and 2009 are not fully comparable with those from 2010 onwards. At an aggregate level, the impact of the revision is generally assessed to be below 10 per cent, but differences may be larger at a more detailed level.

Coherence - cross domain

The Material Flow Account is part of the green national accounts and is prepared with the same boundaries as the National Accounts. The Material Flow Account forms the basis for the preparation of the Detailed material flow accounts (physical supply-use tables), where material consumption is reported at the industry level. The Energy Account contains the same information about fossil energy and its products as the Material Flow Account. However, the relevant quantities are reported in gigajoules.

Coherence - internal

It is ensured that data is internally consistent.