Economy

Raw resources processed and hauled into the world economy.

The energy-labour multiplier

The annual primary energy that runs the $118T factory, and how many kWh and labour-hours each $1,000 of value added takes.

Layer 1's $118 trillion of output does not form by itself: the mass pulled from the crust is organised with energy and human labour into finished goods and services. This page measures those two inputs, the primary energy consumed per year, and how many kilowatt-hours and labour-hours each $1,000 of value added takes in each sector.

172 bin TWh

Annual primary energy

world total

1,46 kWh/$

Energy intensity

primary energy ÷ GDP

3,4 milyar

Global employment

people at work

Energy and labour intensity by sector

Each row: what share of final energy and what share of value added it uses, then the energy (kWh) and labour (hours) intensity of $1,000 of value added. Heavy industry is low-employment, high-energy; agriculture the reverse.

Heavy industry (metallurgy, cement, chemicals)%24 / %8

Energy4.400 kWh

Labour6 h

Light manufacturing and assembly%14 / %12

Energy1.700 kWh

Labour11 h

Transport and logistics%27 / %6

Energy6.500 kWh

Labour14 h

Agriculture and food%4 / %4

Energy1.500 kWh

Labour40 h

Buildings, trade and services%31 / %70

Energy480 kWh

Labour9 h

Energy share / VA share · per $1,000 of value added

Manufacturing's backbone rests on energy, agriculture's on labour. Both are bound by biological and thermodynamic limits, the layer of numbers built on top of them is not.

Sources & method →