Activity 2. Visible steel use per capita – working with interactive resources
Visible/apparent steel consumption per capita” (ASU): this is one of the statistical methods to measure the amount of steel consumed per year per capita. It is calculated by dividing the total amount of steel produced or imported in a country by the population.
- Log on to the World Steel Association website, available at:
Select a country from the list given in the Table to the right.
A map, chart and table will load showing the apparent/apparent steel consumption in your selected country.
The map can be zoomed in and out to show a specific region and smaller countries in more detail. Clicking on a country will add it to the chart below.
The chart provides an instant comparison of steel use between two or more states over 5 years. Hovering over the dots provides the value for that particular country in that particular year.
The table contains a complete list of steel use per capita worldwide. Clicking on a country adds it to the chart.
Visible steel consumption per capita – Italy 2022. Source: World Steel Association (screenshot of statistics page) [accessed 15.01.2024]
Visible steel consumption per capita – Bulgaria, Greece, Slovakia, Portugal, USA, Germany 2018-2022
Table
| Country – 2022 | Kilograms |
| South Korea | 990,0 |
| United Arab Emirates | 804,0 |
| Taiwan, China | 728,1 |
| Slovenia | 686,4 |
| China | 649,2 |
| Czech Republic | 631,1 |
| Austria | 476,3 |
| Japan | 443,6 |
| Qatar | 439,9 |
| Italy | 425,8 |
| Estonia | 421,8 |
- Try out the map, chart and table functions yourself. Find:
- The country with the highest steel consumption per capita in 2022.
- The country with the least steel consumption per capita in 2022.
- Amount of consumption in your country.
- Consumption size in neighbouring countries.
You have 10 minutes to find the answers!
- Participate in a class discussion on the questions given below.
Discussion questions:
- Which country had the highest per capita consumption of steel in 2022? How many kilograms was it? Can you imagine a steel/metal product with that weight?
- In which country was per capita steel consumption the lowest in 2022? Note: if students give answers for countries with values of 0.0, ask them if they think it is possible that no person in that country bought a spoon or hairpin (let alone a car) in the last year. Explain why some data is missing.
- How many kilos were bought in your country?
- What was the per capita consumption of steel products in your country in 2022? Do you think your family’s consumption of steel products is close to this value? Why? What about the previous 4 years? Do you think it will increase or decrease next year?
- Is the consumption of steel in our neighboring countries higher or lower than ours? Why do you think that is?
