In consequence of interactions between compartments, the matter or energy residence time in an econetwork is in nature distinct from that in a compartment. Based on the analysis of econetwork structure, a strategy is developed to calculate the matter or energy residence time in a general econetwork and the effects of self-, direct-and indirect interaction on econetwork residence time. Two typical examples are used to illustrate the strategy, the results show that total residence time equals the ratio of total standing stock to total system outflow or total system inflow instead of the ratio of total standing stock to total system throughput.