Definition: Tangible non-produced assets

Category: ESA 1995

Non-produced assets that occur in nature and over which ownership may be enforced and transferred. Environmental assets over which ownership rights have not, or cannot, be enforced, such as open seas or air, are excluded. Tangible non-produced assets consist of land, subsoil assets, non-cultivated biological resources and water resources (Annex 7.1: Definition of each asset category).

All tangible non-produced assets are natural assets. Which natural assets are included is determined, in compliance with the general definition of an economic asset, by whether the assets are subject to effective ownership and are capable of bringing economic benefits to their owners, given the existing technology, knowledge, economic opportunities, available resources, and set of relative prices. Moreover, natural assets over which ownership rights have not, or cannot, be established, such as open seas or air, are excluded (§ 7.18). http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/product?code=CA-15-96-001&mode=view