Raw materials are an important factor in the provision of goods and services. Each economic sector uses different types and quantities of raw materials, depending on its role in the economy. The primary sectors, such as agriculture and forestry, extract raw materials from the environment. These materials are either directly consumed by final users (e.g. as food) or passed on to the secondary sector which processes them into semi-finished and finished products. Based on the materials or products from the primary and secondary sector, the tertiary sector provides services to other sectors or final consumers. Hence, all sectors depend directly or indirectly on the use of raw materials. Using the construction sector as an example, this story shows the analytical options of the ‚Sector Profiles‘, which aim to support sector analyses from a raw materials point of view.
Extraction of construction materials
The extraction perspective highlights the role and magnitude of the primary sector. The construction sector is dependent on a couple of primary sectors, the most important of which is the sector ‘construction material quarrying’. In 2021, it extracted 42,218 billion tonnes of non-metallic minerals, accounting for 45.5% of global material extraction (see figure below). This does not include additional materials used in construction, such as iron ore, wood and fuels which would further increase the share of raw material extraction used for the construction sector.
Relative to 1990, the direct extraction of the construction material quarrying sector more than doubled by 2021. In the same period, employment in the sector roughly halved, while value added increased almost five times. These trends indicate that the sector globally has become less labour-intensive and at the same time increased its productivity.
Material consumption of the construction sector
The consumption perspective depicts the quantities of raw material that are embodied in the products and services of the construction sector delivered to final consumption. The construction sector is responsible for the greatest share (42.2%) in global raw material consumption. It consists of the building and the civil engineering sectors which together consumed 45,133 billion tonnes of raw materials in 2021.
Material extraction along the supply chains of the goods and services for final demand (i.e. “material consumption”) of the global construction sector occurs in almost all countries of the world. This is unsurprising, as nearly every country has its own construction activities. However, roughly 70% of the material consumption for construction purposes occurred in three countries only: China, the United States of America, and India, with China being by far the dominant actor. These countries contributed 24,104 million tonnes (58.4%), 2,428 million tonnes (5.9%), and 1,943 million tonnes (4.7%), respectively (see figure below). Taken together, the EU stands at 1,850 million tonnes and 4,47%.
The dominance of China in the global extraction of materials or construction activities can be explained by its unprecedented economic catching up in the last three decades, which resulted in China becoming the motor of the world economy. Its demand for infrastructure and housing led to a boom in the domestic construction sector and its large share in global material consumption for construction. However, China’s large-scale housing initiatives have not only driven massive domestic material demand but also resulted in a significant oversupply of residential buildings, with many apartments remaining unoccupied – ultimately contributing to the country’s real estate crisis.
From 1990 to 2021, global material consumption of the construction sector increased by 68.0% (figure below). This is partly due to the material demand for maintenance of the existing infrastructure (see story on material stocks). At the same time, the sector’s global labour footprint decreased by 30.4%, while its contribution to final demand increased by 508.7%. Consequently, the sector’s material productivity and its labour productivity increased, while still going hand in hand with increasing material extraction and resulting environmental impacts.
The construction sector’s performance in comparison to other sectors
The inter-sectoral comparison of material use and socio-economic indicators such as employment or economic activity from both the production and the consumption perspective allows to better understand each sector’s role in the world. Mining and the processing of raw materials represent a serious burden for local natural environments and communities around the extraction sites. Therefore, while the construction sector itself does not contribute to material extraction, its contribution to global raw material demand is a main driver of environmental degradation.
It is important to understand that the environmental impact of raw material extraction and processing varies greatly and depends on the material extracted, on the location of the extraction site, and on the technologies employed. Some metals used for technologies such as electric vehicles and computer hardware exhibit considerable environmental impacts despite the relatively small quantities mined. In comparison, the construction sector mostly relies on bulk materials such as concrete (sand, gravel, lime), steel (iron ore), and wood. However, also regarding bulk materials used in the construction sector, environmental impacts vary considerably. For example, the production of cement is a very emission-intensive process. Hence, by increasing the use of wood instead of concrete the sector’s carbon emissions can be reduced considerably. This effect is further increased by wood’s ability to sequester carbon through photosynthesis during tree growth, which is then stored in buildings – as long as it remains in use.
While the environmental intensity of bulk materials such as sand and gravel is lower compared to metals such as copper, their sheer volume implies serious risks for the environment and communities. For example, sand, the main component of concrete is so sought-after that a whole industry (dubbed “sand mafia”) trades illegally obtained sands from riverbanks and seashores. The results are environmental pollution with knock-on effects for the entire ecosystem and dependent food chains and the erosion of river and coastlines with increased risks for local residents (Rentier & Cammeraat, 2022).
Steel, also a central material for the construction sector, is one of the main contributors to global energy demand (8%) and GHG emissions (7%) (IEA, 2020). Its raw material ingredient iron ore requires 10 to 100 m³ water per ton, while more than a third of global iron ore is produced in highly arid regions of Australia (Rachid et al., 2023; USGS, 2025). At the same time iron ore is responsible for 9% of toxic mining waste that needs to be stored and is subject to hazardous risks (Oberle et al., 2020). And overall, 2022 the construction industry as a whole was responsible for roughly 21% of global greenhouse gases (United Nations Environment Programme, 2024).
The construction sector and its supplier industry ‘construction material quarrying’ show the highest level of material demand of all industries. In the figure above it can be seen that Construction material quarrying represents more than 40% of the material demand from a domestic production perspective which contrasts with its share in the value added (2.2 %) and employment (0.7%). From the consumption perspective, depicting all raw materials embodied in the products and services of the construction sector delivered to final consumption, the construction sector accounts for more than 40% of material demand, make up for 12.0% of global final demand and require 13.8% of global employment. Only the agriculture sector has a comparable level of material intensity per worker and per final demand. Other sectors such as financial intermediation and business activities and public administration account for only 2.1% and 2.3% of material demand but for 15.5% and 10% of final demand and 10.4% and 8.1% of employment.
Policy approaches to reduce the sector’s material demand
To reduce the construction sector’s material demand, a diverse set of policies is required. A central lever is the application of circular economy principles across all life cycle phases of buildings. This means that already in the planning phase, the focus is set on durability, modular design, adaptability of use, maintenance, reuse, and the deployment of recyclable building materials (BMK, 2022). During the use phase, the prohibition of speculative vacancies or the introduction of a maximum size limit for residential units can promote a more efficient use of existing infrastructure. More advanced mechanisms of recycling and reusage like the mandatory on-site sorting and recycling of debris can enable a higher level of circularity and lower primary resource demand while innovative building materials, such as bamboo or hempcrete, may reduce environmental impacts compared to conventional construction materials. Lastly, sufficiency-based policies can lower the demand for new construction altogether.
References
Federal Ministry Republic of Austria Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology BMK (2022). Austria on the path to a sustainable and circular society. The Austrian Circular Economy Strategy. https://www.bmluk.gv.at/dam/jcr:d3f720c2-f82b-4ff1-99ab-2a5b8c71369f/Austrian%20Circular%20Economy%20Strategy.pdf
IEA. (2020). Iron and Steel Technology Roadmap – Analysis. https://www.iea.org/reports/iron-and-steel-technology-roadmap
Oberle, B., Brereton, D., & Mihaylova, A. (2020). Towards Zero Harm: A Compendium of Papers Prepared for the Global Tailings Review. Global Tailings Revew. https://globaltailingsreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GTR-TZH-compendium.pdf
Rachid, S., Taha, Y., & Benzaazoua, M. (2023). Environmental evaluation of metals and minerals production based on a life cycle assessment approach: A systematic review. Minerals Engineering, 198, 108076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2023.108076
Rentier, E. S., & Cammeraat, L. H. (2022). The environmental impacts of river sand mining. Science of The Total Environment, 838, 155877. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155877
United Nations Environment Programme. (2024). Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction: Beyond foundations: Mainstreaming sustainable solutions to cut emissions from the buildings sector. https://doi.org/10.59117/20.500.11822/45095
USGS. (2025). Iron USGS 2025. USGS. https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2025/mcs2025-iron-ore.pdf
Van Der Voet, E., Van Oers, L., Verboon, M., & Kuipers, K. (2018). Environmental Implications of Future Demand Scenarios for Metals: Methodology and Application to the Case of Seven Major Metals. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 23(1), 141–155. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12722
