A table that shows the estimated use of imports by industries and final uses. The format of the import matrix is similar to that of the use table, but only imported commodities are distributed across the rows of the table. Because source data are not available on who purchases imports, the estimates are based on the assumption that each industry’s use of imports for a specific commodity is proportional to its total use of that commodity. To calculate the import matrix, a ratio of imports by product to supply (domestic production plus imports less exports and change in inventories) is used. Two import matrixes are prepared, one to match with the standard use table (before reallocation of inputs) and one to match with the supplementary use table (after the reallocation of inputs). (BEA)

System for defining and aggregating industries for the I-O accounts. Up through the 1992 I-O benchmark, the I-O system was based on the SIC. Beginning with the 1997 I-O benchmark, it is based on NAICS. (A concordance between the I-O industry classification codes and the NAICS codes for the 1997 benchmark is published in Appendix A of the article on the benchmark I-O accounts in the December 2002 issue of the Survey of Current Business.) (BEA)

A type of applied economic analysis that tracks the interdependence among various producing and consuming sectors of an economy. More particularly, it measures the relationship between a given set of demands for final goods and services and the inputs required to satisfy those demands. (BEA)