Northern Ireland’s Material Footprint: 2001 to 2023

A report detailing the latest estimates for Northern Ireland's material footprint was published today.

This report provides an overview of Northern Ireland's raw material consumption, commonly referred to as the material footprint. It presents estimates for 2001 to 2023 with breakdowns by material group and estimates per person (per capita) over time.

Main results:

• Northern Ireland's material footprint decreased by 0.9% from 2022 to 38.5 million tonnes in 2023.
• The material footprint in 2023 is around 33% higher than the recent low point recorded in 2020 which coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Non-metallic minerals were the largest material group and accounted for 46% of the material footprint in 2023.
• Material footprint per person decreased slightly from 20.3 tonnes in 2022 to 20.1 tonnes in 2023.
• Northern Ireland's footprint was 20.1 tonnes per person in 2023 compared with 17.5 tonnes for the UK. 

The full report is available at: Northern Ireland's Material Footprint: 2001 to 2023  

Notes to editors:

1. Material footprint is a consumption-based measure of the primary raw materials required to meet the demand for goods and services consumed by Northern Ireland residents. The measure captures raw materials required throughout the supply chain, regardless of where in the world they are extracted.
2. The publication supports monitoring of the material footprint indicator within the Decarbonisation priority of the Department for the Economy Business Plan 2025-26. These figures will also be reported through the Environmental Improvement Plan under Strategic Environmental Outcome 5 - Zero Waste & Highly Developed Circular Economy.
3. The analysis within this report provides material footprint estimates produced by the University of Leeds. The further information section of the statistical report provides more information on the data sources and methodology.
4. Supplementary tables containing the data used in this publication are available on the DfE website on the Northern Ireland's Material Footprint: 2001 to 2023 publication page.