ABSTRACT
Recent studies of energy costs in national economies have tended to concentrate on the UK and the US. This study applies input-output analysis to the economy of the Federal Republic of Germany. It indicates that foreign trade in non-energy products has a great impact on the national energy balance with energy contained in exports being larger than imports by about 25%. It is hoped that the general results will be useful in comparing energy costs in various economies. although explicit comparisons between countries of energy costs per final demand are complicated by the fact that currency exchange rates do not correspond to the rates which should be used when making energy comparisons.
The research was supported by Siftung Volkswagenwerk and conducted in association with the Mesarovic-Pestel World Model Project.
