The Use table

The main body of the Use table (section 1) shows, for each industry classification, the intermediate consumption of products (IC).

IC is the value of products used-up or altered by the production process. Again industries are shown in columns and products in rows.

The columns to the right of the main table (section 2) give the components of final use for products (e.g. purchases by the household sector, the government and exports). Both final use and intermediate use are valued at purchasers’ prices and cover domestically produced and imported products.

The rows underneath the main body of the Use table (section 3) give the income components of Gross Value Added (GVA) for each industry grouping. These components are labour costs (wages and salaries plus associated employers’ contributions e.g. national insurance and pension contributions), taxes on production (e.g. business rates) less subsidies on production, profits, etc[1] and gross operating surplus.

It can be seen that the Supply and Use Tables are balanced so that total supply equals total use for each product and industry. Balanced SUTs are the prerequisite for calculating GDP using the three different methods as discussed in subsequent sections.

Interpretation of the 2019 Use Table

The Use table is presented at 62 product group by 62 industry group level. Reading down the columns of the first section of the Use table we can see the range of products used by each industry to produce goods and services. For example, the textile industry purchased a total of £319 million of goods and services to produce its own product. The main products purchased were textiles (£158 million). Reading across the rows we can see the destination of products and services. The table shows that £406 million of textiles were used up by industries in the production of their products. The main industry using these products was the textiles industry (£158 million). In addition, £334 million of textiles were used by the household sector and £370 million of goods were exported.