The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has released the ‘Supply and Use Tables of 2020-21 and 2021-22’. Supply and Use Tables (SUTs) represent a detailed snapshot of all economic activities taking place in the economy. They are powerful analytical tools that present the structure of an economy as well as interlinkages among the various economic actors.

Purpose of SUT

Supply and Use Tables (SUT) serve multiple purposes and have gained prominence due to their statistical robustness and analytical flexibility. They offer a comprehensive framework that integrates the three approaches to measuring Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—production, income, and expenditure within a unified structure. SUT is a very powerful tool for comparing and reconciling data from diverse sources, thereby improving the coherence and consistency between production and expenditure estimates. Compilation of product-wise value of output by different industries, net product taxes, trade and transport margin, import on supply side, and intermediate consumption by different industries, final use, export by products make the SUT more data demanding. These detailed product-level information by industry enables policymakers, researchers, and academicians to undertake granular analysis of the structure, composition and dynamics of the economy.

The SUTs for the years 2020–21 and 2021–22 have been compiled using the estimates of macroeconomic aggregates published in the National Accounts Statistics (NAS) 2024, which provides the Final Revised Estimates for 2020-21 and for 2021-22.

SUT Framework

Supply and Use Tables (SUT) are presented as two interlinked matrices: the Supply Table and the Use Table, structured in a product-by-industry matrix. The Supply Table captures the total supply of goods and services, both from domestic production by industry and from imports. In contrast, the Use Table records the utilization of these products across various components—intermediate consumption by industries, final consumption, gross capital formation, and exports.

The foundation of the SUT framework lies in the product identity, which states that the total supply of a product (from domestic production and imports) must equal its total use (as intermediate consumption, final consumption, capital formation and exports). This identity ensures that all economic flows are accounted for, and thus, SUTs facilitate a coherent and balanced representation of the economy, enabling the three approaches to GDP measurement—production, income, and expenditure—to converge to a single, harmonized estimate.

In the National Accounts Statistics (NAS), GDP estimates derived from the production/income and expenditure sides often differ due to different data sources used for estimation. The resulting difference is published as ‘discrepancy’ on the expenditure side in the NAS. The SUT framework enables the compilers to reconcile and adjust these discrepancies, ensuring consistency between the production/income and expenditure estimates.

Compilation of SUT

The SUT of 2020-21 and 2021-22 has 140 products and 66 industries. These are compiled based on the estimates of macro aggregates published in NAS 2024, survey data like Annual Survey of Industries (ASI), several administrative data sources. The estimates provided in SUT are at current prices and are based on the methodologies in alignment with the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA).

Preparation of SUT involves four activities: (i) Identification of Industries and Products, (ii) Compilation of Supply Table, (iii) Compilation of Use Table and (iv) Product Balancing. Industries are identified from National Industrial Classification (NIC) of ASI data for manufacturing and Compilation Categories (CC) of NAS for sectors other than manufacturing. Products are identified as per National Product Classification for Manufacturing Sector (NPCMS) and National Product Classification for Services Sector (NPCSS).

The supply table is generally prepared at basic prices as NAS also compiles the output of industries at basic prices. However, to account for the final utilization of the products, the supply table provides mechanism which moves the valuation of products from basic prices to purchasers’ prices as recorded in use table. The compilation draws upon various data sources, including NAS statements, Annual Accounts of Corporations, ASI data, Export-Import (EXIM) database of DGCIS for imports of goods; RBI data for imports of services; CBIC tariff data for import duties.

The use table provides gross value added at basic prices by industries (following production approach) and GDP by deducting imports from final uses (following expenditure approach). Moreover, it also shows the components of value added by industry from income side estimates. The compilation of this information involves analysis of several supplementary data sources specific to each product or industry. Key sources include Cost of Cultivation Studies (CCS), ASI data, Companies data from of MCA and NDE, EXIM data, and data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Key Highlights

• Total supply of goods and services at purchasers’ price in the economy is 407.52 Lakh Crore Rs. and 523.08 Lakh Crore Rs. in 2020-21 and 2021-22 respectively.
• In both years, out of the total supply at basic prices, agricultural goods contributed 11–13%, mining goods 2%, manufactured goods 30–33%, manufacturing-related services 3%, and services from the service sector around 55%.
• In 2020–21, the top five industries with the highest GVA-to-GVO ratio—ranging from 0.96 to 0.80—were Ownership of Dwellings, Fishing & Aquaculture, Forestry and Logging, Agriculture, and Education & Research. Higher GVA-to-GVO ratio implies better efficiency and value addition within the industry.
• In 2021-22, Ownership of dwellings, Fishing & Aquaculture, Forestry and Logging, Agriculture & Crude Petroleum are the top five industries with the highest GVA-to-GVO ratio with same range.
• In 2020–21, five industries with the lowest GVA-to-GVO ratio—ranging from 0.15 to 0.10—were Production, processing and preservation of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, oils and fats; Manufacture of dairy products; Manufacture of grain mill products & animal feeds; Manufacture of communication equipment; and Other Manufacturing.
• In 2021-22, five industries with the lowest GVA-to-GVO ratio—ranging from 0.12 to 0.09— were Production, processing and preservation of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, oils & fats; Manufacture of communication equipment; Manufacture of dairy products; Manufacture of grain mill products & animal feeds; Manufacture of coke & refined petroleum products.
• Construction accounted for the highest share of total intermediate consumption, contributing 13.82% in 2020–21 and 14.03% in 2021–22.
• In 2020–21, goods accounted for a larger share of intermediate consumption, constituting 70%, while services contributed the remaining 30%. A similar pattern is observed in Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE), where goods comprised 62% and services 38% of the total PFCE.
• In 2021–22, goods accounted for intermediate consumption of 72%, while services accounted for the remaining 28%. In Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE), where goods made up 59% and services constituted 41% of the total PFCE.
• In 2020-21, a discrepancy of (-) 2,46,154 Crore Rs. between the production and expenditure side GDP estimates was addressed by adjusting the expenditure components. This was done by reducing Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) by 3,05,628 Crore Rs., Change in Inventories (CIS) by 18,897 Crore Rs., and Imports by 78,374 Crore Rs. as part of the CIF adjustment.
• In 2021–22, a discrepancy of (-) 2,16,579 Crore Rs. between the production and expenditure side GDP estimates was reconciled by adjusting the expenditure components. This was done by reducing Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) by 3,55,540 Crore Rs., Change in Inventories (CIS) by 1,884 Crore Rs., and Imports by 1,37,081 Crore Rs. as part of the CIF adjustment.

As a forward-looking measure, the Ministry plans to integrate the compilation of the Supply and Use Tables (SUT) with compilation of the Annual National Accounts Statistics in the new series. This integration aims to ensure consistency and coherence across the three approaches to GDP compilation, while also helping to reduce the time lag in preparing the SUT.

The ‘Supply and Use Tables of 2020-21 and 2021-22’ and a Methodological Note on SUT Compilation are available for download on the MoSPI official website at:

https://mospi.gov.in/publication/supply-use-tables.