Use of Raw Materials in the United States 

From 1900 Through 2014

Introduction

The economic growth of an industrialized nation such as 

the United States requires raw materials for construction (buildings, 

bridges, highways, and so forth), defense, and processing and 

manufacture of goods and services. Since the beginning of the 

20th century, the types and quantities of raw materials used have 

increased and changed significantly. This fact sheet quantifies 

the amounts of raw materials (other than food and fuel) that 

have been used in the U.S. economy annually for a period of 

115 years, from 1900 through 2014. It provides a broad overview 

of the quantity (weight) of nonfood and nonfuel materials used 

in the economy and illustrates the use and significance of raw 

nonfuel minerals in particular as building blocks of society. 

The estimation of materials used in the economy in physical 

terms is different than the estimation by monetary value. Raw 

materials are found in the environment, and the magnitude of a 

material’s impact is estimated in physical terms (for example, 

the bulk of crushed stone is considered a benign material but 

materials such as arsenic, cadmium, and mercury can be 

considered toxic in certain forms and amounts). The extraction 

and use of raw materials could have detrimental effect on the 

environment and society if not managed carefully. The changes 

in the quantities of renewable and nonrenewable resources 

used during the period indicate that come increasingly dependent 

on nonrenewable materials to sustain its standard of living 

(the degree of wealth and material comfort available to a person 

or community), often seen as essential for the economic 

well-being of citizens and national security. This fact sheet 

supersedes U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2012–3140, 

which was published in December 2012 and covered the 

period 1900 through 2010.

These data have been compiled to help the public and 

policymakers understand the changing annual flow of raw 

materials put into use in the United States. Such information 

can be helpful in assessing the potential effects of materials use 

on the environment, assessing materials’ intensity of use, and 

examining the role that these materials play in the economy. 

The data presented indicate the substitution and shift in materials 

usage from renewable to nonrenewable materials during the 

20th century. The disaggregated quantities by commodity (not 

shown in this fact sheet) may be tested against supply adequacy 

and end of life issues.

 For the purposes of this fact sheet, “usage” refers to the

annual apparent inputs during the consumption phase of the 

material’s cycle (which is calculated as the sum of a given material’s 

domestic production, imports, and recycling, minus exports). 

The data are also only for raw materials that were ready for use 

directly by the domestic consumer or in the manufacture of 

products consumed domestically or exported: materials contained 

in imported finished goods were excluded. In an industrial economy 

such as the United States where the volume of goods flowing 

into and out of the country is large, tracking the flow of materials 

embedded in imported or exported products is challenging.

The data for usage of raw materials from 1900 through 

2014 in the United States are based on available annual historical 

data from a variety of sources (see “Data Sources Used to Track 

Flows of Raw Materials Usage” section) and are presented in four 

ways. Figure 1 lists the raw materials put into use annually, 

divided into the following broad categories: agriculture, forestry, 

nonfuel minerals, and nonrenewable organics. Table 1 (in a 

separate spreadsheet) lists the aggregated quantities (by weight) 

of these raw materials and nonfuel minerals on an annual basis. 

Figure 2 is a graphical representation of the data in table 1—

showing all raw materials and a focus on raw nonfuel minerals. 

Figure 3 shows the percentage of annual material usage of 

renewable and nonrenewable materials.

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2017–3062, August 2017

Supersedes USGS Fact Sheet 2012-3140 Printed on recycled paper
Figure 1. Chart listing U.S. raw materials put into use annually from 1900 through 2014, by category.

Agriculture Forestry

Nonfuel minerals

Nonrenewable organics

Construction materials Industrial minerals

Metals 

(includes 

recycled metals)

Cotton

Cottonseed

Fishery

Flax seed

Fur

Leather hides

Mohair

Natural rubber

Raw wool

Silk, raw and 

waste

Tobacco

Paper and 

paperboard

Recycled paper

Wood

Lumber

Plywood and 

veneer

Other forestry

Sand and gravel, 

construction

Stone, crushed

Abrasives, manufactured

Asbestos

Barite 

Boron 

Bromine 

Cement

Clays

Diamond, industrial

Diatomite

Feldspar

Fluorspar 

Garnet, industrial

Gemstones

Graphite, natural

Gypsum

Hafnium 

Helium

Iron oxide pigments 

Kyanite and related 

materials

Lime

Lithium

Magnesium compounds 

Mica 

Nitrogen

Peat

Perlite

Phosphate rock

Potash

Pumice and pumicite

Quartz crystal 

Salt

Sand and gravel, 

industrial

Soda ash 

Sodium sulfate

Stone, dimension

Strontium 

Sulfur

Talc and pyrophyllite

Thorium 

Titanium dioxide

Vermiculite

Wollastonite

Zirconium

Aluminum 

Antimony 

Arsenic

Beryllium 

Bismuth

Cadmium

Cesium 

Chromium 

Cobalt 

Copper

Gallium

Germanium

Gold 

Indium

Iron and steel 

Lead

Magnesium

Manganese 

Mercury

Molybdenum

Nickel

Niobium 

(columbium)

Platinum group 

Rare earths

Rhenium

Selenium

Silicon

Silver

Tantalum 

Tellurium 

Thallium

Tin 

Titanium

Tungsten

Vanadium 

Zinc

Asphalt and road oil

Coal 

Coal for chemical use

Liquefied petroleum gases

Lubricants

Miscellaneous oils, waxes, 

and other products

Natural gas

Pentanes plus

Petro-chemical feedstock

Petroleum coke

Primary products from 

petroleum

Special naphthas
Short- and medium-term trends in raw material usage 

correlate well with major economic and military events of the 

past 11 decades (fig. 2). These events have included World 

War I, the Great Depression of the 1930s, World War II and the 

subsequent post-war economic expansion, the oil crises of the 

1970s, the economic recessions of the 1980s and early 1990s, 

the extended period of economic prosperity and technological 

growth at the end of the 20th century, and the great recession 

Figure 2. Graph showing amount of U.S. raw materials put into use annually from 1900 through 2014. Materials embedded in imported goods 

are not included.

from 2007 through 2009. Although from 2009 through 2014 

the U.S. economy has slowly recovered from the 2007–9 

recession (with the exception of recycled metals, where 

consumption has continued to trend upward throughout the 

recession and recovery), U.S. total material usages have not 

reached their pre-recession levels. The great recession affected 

the country’s financial and economic conditions and it 

severely affected materials usage.

Forestry

Recycled paper

Paper and paperboard

Wood

Nonfuel minerals

Construction materials

Industrial minerals

Recycled metals

Primary metals

Nonrenewable organics Agriculture

EXPLANATION

Raw materials used, in million metric tons

0

400

800

1,200

1,600

2,000

2,400

2,800

3,200

3,600

4,000

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960

Year

1970 1980 1990 2000 2014

Great recession

Recessions

Oil crisis

World War I

Great Depression

World War II
Raw Materials

The raw materials summarized in this report can be divided 

into four broad categories—agriculture, forestry, nonfuel minerals, 

and nonrenewable organics. 

Agriculture

The agriculture category includes nonfood materials derived 

from plant products (such as cotton, flaxseed, tobacco, and 

natural rubber); animal products (such as wool and leather); 

and fishery products (such as fish meal). This category is not 

significant by weight. The usage of the agricultural, wildlife, and 

fishery materials included in this category has been diminishing 

since 1993, to about 40 percent of the 1993 total in 2014, probably 

owing to increasing use of substitutes, such as synthetic fibers 

for natural fiber and synthetic oils for natural oils, and possibly 

more dependency on imported final or semifinal products (for 

which the embedded materials are not accounted) (Wagner, 2002).

Forestry

The forestry category includes nonfuel forest products, 

such as wood and paper, and includes recycled paper. In 2014, 

about 63 percent of paper and paperboard was recovered to make 

new paper products. Wood products, such as lumber, plywood, 

and veneer, and other nonfuel forestry products were used more 

intensely at the beginning of the century. Lumber was the primary 

building material. Following the Great Depression, many lumber 

companies were forced to shut down; wood products usage 

was lowest in 1932, at 27.5 million metric tons (Mt). Moreover, 

the steady decline of wood usage was intensified owing to the 

increased consumption of cement and steel products; and after 

1990, paper and paperboard usage exceeded that of wood.

Nonfuel Minerals

Construction Materials.—On a gross weight basis, the 

construction materials category includes the bulk of mineral 

commodities: crushed stone and construction sand and gravel 

made up 72 percent, by weight, of new mineral materials put 

into use in the United States in 2014. Although consumption 

in 2014 remained well below the alltime, pre-recession peak in 

2006, usage of these commodities is expected to increase owing 

to increasing construction activity in the country. Usage of 

these materials during the study period increased as a result 

of infrastructure growth (such as the creation of the Interstate 

Highway system), rebuilding and extending the road network to 

cities, and construction of other infrastructures (such as airports, 

dams, buildings, and housing) (Tepordei, 1997).

Although not shown separately, material usage among 

individual nonfuel minerals has evolved with technological 

innovations in both production and usage. As technology 

changes, new materials are developed or old materials are used 

in different applications (such as silicon for the semiconductor 

and solar energy industries, titanium for aerospace applications, 

and indium for electrical conductive purposes in flat-panel 

displays). These materials are not significant by weight but 

are extremely valuable in a society driven by computers and 

telecommunication systems.

Industrial Minerals.—The industrial minerals category includes 

materials for use in agricultural, construction, chemical, and 

industrial sectors of the economy. Industrial minerals are mineral 

commodities such as barite for oil and gas drilling; fertilizer 

materials such as nitrogen, phosphate rock, and potash; fluorspar 

for acid; lime for steelmaking; salt for ice control and chemicals; 

and an extensive range of other industrial minerals from abrasive 

materials to gypsum, mica, and zirconium. However, the industrial 

minerals category representation by weight is relatively small, 

accounting for just 13 percent of total materials used in 2014. 

Metals.—The metals category includes commodities 

ranging from aluminum and antimony to vanadium and zinc. It 

includes traditional ferrous, nonferrous, and precious metals as 

well as specialty metals used for high-technology applications 

(such as indium, gallium, and lithium), and it is distributed by 

source as primary and secondary (recycled) materials. In 2014, 

recycled metals accounted for about 40 percent of metals use by 

weight. Total metals consumption has recovered from the recession 

in 2007–9, in spite of slow recovery of the construction sector.

Nonrenewable Organics

The nonrenewable organic materials category includes 

products derived from feedstocks of petroleum (including 

natural-gas liquids), dry natural gas, and coal for nonfuel 

applications (such as carbon blacks, coke, and olefins). These 

include asphalt and road oil, feedstocks used in the production 

of solvents and other petroleum and plastic products, lubricants, 

synthetic fibers, synthetic rubber, and miscellaneous waxes. Use 

of nonrenewable organics emerged gradually in the early part 

of the 20th century, accounting for 1.59 Mt in 1900. The use of 

these materials subsequently underwent nearly continual growth, 

to 155 Mt in 1999; currently, the use of commodities included in 

this category is recovering from the great economic recession of

2007–9, reaching about 123 Mt in 2014. The use of nonrenewable 

organic materials increased as a result of the development of 

new technologies and products that displaced more traditional 

materials. In some applications, synthetic fibers, plastic feedstocks, 

and lubricants replaced wood, metals, and other mineral-based 

commodities because of cost advantages and (or) more desirable 

properties. The National Asphalt Pavement Association is 

quantifying the use of recycled paving material through industry 

surveys. In 2014, more than 71.9 Mt of reclaimed asphalt 

pavement and nearly 2 Mt of recycled asphalt shingles were put 

to use in new pavements in the United States (National Asphalt 

Pavement Association, 2015). These data were not included in 

the study but possibly explain the decline in the overall use of 

nonrenewable organics.
Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources

Raw materials or their products are natural resources that 

are either harvested or mined. These may be classified as renewable 

or nonrenewable resources. Renewable resources—such as products 

from agriculture, fishery, forestry, and wildlife—can regenerate, 

so long as they are not overharvested, overfished, or overhunted. 

Nonrenewable resources in this study include materials extracted 

from geologic deposits, such as nonfuel minerals and nonrenewable 

organics. In 2014, only 4 percent of the nearly 3,000 Mt of new 

materials entering the U.S. economy were renewable, a shift 

from 46 percent in 1900 (fig. 4). Of all the materials used during 

the study period, more than one-half were used during the past 

30 years (Matos and Wagner, 1998).

Figure 3. Graph showing percentage of U.S. annual material usage of renewable and nonrenewable materials from 1900 through 2014.

The compilation of the material usages in the U.S. 

economy assists in understanding a global usage of renewable 

and nonrenewable natural resources to satisfy the needs and 

wants of society. Balancing resource extraction and usage and 

their environmental impact have implications that potentially 

could affect supply chains for industry and manufacturing 

sectors in the economy. However, advances in technology for

the development of resource substitutes, improvements in 

technology for the discovery and extraction of mineral 

resources, and improved recycling efficiencies may reduce the 

possibility of exhausting the supply of nonrenewable resources 

and secure a sustainable supply of materials for society.

Weight, in percent

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960

Year

1970 1980 1990 2000 2014

Nonrenewable

Renewable
Data Sources Used to Track Flows 

of Raw Materials Usage

The following is a list of data sources used to track these flows:

• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;

World Statistical Compendium for Raw Hides and Skins,

Leather and Leather Footwear 1999–2015 (for animal and

agricultural products)

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National

Marine Fisheries Service; Fisheries of the United States (for

fisheries statistics)

• Resources for the Future; Natural Resource Commodities—

A Century of Statistics (for agriculture statistics)

• U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey (for metal

and mineral statistics)

• Mineral Resources of the United States

• Minerals Yearbook

• U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics

Service (for agriculture statistics)

• Annual Agricultural Statistics

• Economic Research Service data products

• U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau; Statistical 

Abstract of the United States (for agriculture statistics)

• U.S. Energy Information Administration; Annual Energy

Review (for nonrenewable organics statistics)

• U.S. Forest Service; U.S. Timber Production, Trade,

Consumption, and Price Statistics (for forestry and paper

statistics)

• U.S. International Trade Commission

• Interactive Tariff and Trade DataWeb (for agricultural

products)

• Synthetic Organic Chemicals publication (for nonrenewable

organics statistics, and statistics on primary products made

from petroleum and natural gas)

References Cited

Matos, Grecia, and Wagner, Lorie, 1998, Consumption of materials 

in the United States, 1900–1995: Annual Review of Energy 

and the Environment, v. 23, p. 107–122. [Also available at 

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.energy.23.1.107.]

National Asphalt Pavement Association, 2015, Recycling: 

National Asphalt Pavement Association web page, accessed 

May 4, 2016, at http://www.asphaltpavement.org/

recycling#Results. 

Tepordei, V.V., 1997, Natural aggregates—Foundation of America’s 

future: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS–144–97, 4 p. 

[Also available at https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/

fs14497.]

Wagner, L.A., 2002, Materials in the economy, material flows, 

scarcity, and the environment: U.S. Geological Survey 

Circular 1221, 29 p. [Also available at https://pubs.usgs.gov/

circ/2002/c1221/.]

By Grecia R. Matos

For more information, please contact:

Director, National Minerals Information Center

U.S. Geological Survey

12201 Sunrise Valley Drive

988 National Center

Reston, VA 20192 

Email: nmicrecordsmgt@usgs.gov

Or visit the USGS Minerals Information website at 

https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals

ISSN 2327-6916 (print)

ISSN 2327-6932 (online)

https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20173062

Supersedes USGS Fact Sheet 2012–3140