Energy content in manufacturing exports: A cross-country analysis

This article compares the energy content in manufacturing exports in a set of 30 advanced and emerging economies and examines its evolution from 1995 to 2005, combining information from the OECD input-output matrices and international trade data in 17 manufacturing sectors. In addition, the article suggests a methodology to disentangle export structure and sectoral energy efficiency effects, presenting results according to technological categories. The article concludes that Brazil, India and, mostly, China, present a high energy content in manufacturing exports, which has increased from 1995 to 2005. Conversely, many advanced economies, notably in Europe and North America, which showed energy contents below the world average in 1995, reinforced their position as exporters with relatively lower energy usage. The contribution of export structure and energy efficiency effects to explain differences in the energy content of exports draws attention to the situation of China. This country increased its relative energy usage in the exports of all technological categories of goods. This effect was reinforced by the stronger export specialization in high-tech products and hindered by a comparatively lower specialization in medium-high-tech products.