diff --git a/src/aggregator/aggregator/counter_elem_gen.go b/src/aggregator/aggregator/counter_elem_gen.go
index 40ca12f331..f40e5922f0 100644
--- a/src/aggregator/aggregator/counter_elem_gen.go
+++ b/src/aggregator/aggregator/counter_elem_gen.go
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ func (e *CounterElem) AddUnique(
 	versionsSeen.Set(version)
 
 	if metric.Version > 0 {
-		e.metrics.updatedValues.Inc(1)
+		e.writeMetrics.updatedValues.Inc(1)
 		for i := range metric.Values {
 			if err := lockedAgg.aggregation.UpdateVal(timestamp, metric.Values[i], metric.PrevValues[i]); err != nil {
 				return err
@@ -630,6 +630,7 @@ func (e *CounterElem) findOrCreate(
 	alignedStartNanos int64,
 	createOpts createAggregationOptions,
 ) (*lockedCounterAggregation, error) {
+	e.writeMetrics.writes.Inc(1)
 	alignedStart := xtime.UnixNano(alignedStartNanos)
 	found, err := e.find(alignedStart)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/aggregator/aggregator/elem_base.go b/src/aggregator/aggregator/elem_base.go
index 54e2ea6952..0a1f1b5750 100644
--- a/src/aggregator/aggregator/elem_base.go
+++ b/src/aggregator/aggregator/elem_base.go
@@ -61,6 +61,9 @@ const (
 	// compute first-order derivatives. This applies to the most common usecases
 	// without imposing significant bookkeeping overhead.
 	maxSupportedTransformationDerivativeOrder = 1
+	listTypeLabel                             = "list-type"
+	resolutionLabel                           = "resolution"
+	flushTypeLabel                            = "flush-type"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -187,6 +190,7 @@ type elemBase struct {
 	cachedSourceSets []map[uint32]*bitset.BitSet // nolint: structcheck
 	// a cache of the flush metrics that don't require grabbing a lock to access.
 	flushMetricsCache     map[flushKey]flushMetrics
+	writeMetrics          writeMetrics
 	tombstoned            bool
 	closed                bool
 	useDefaultAggregation bool // really immutable, but packed w/ the rest of bools
@@ -240,10 +244,10 @@ func (f *flushState) close() {
 }
 
 type elemMetrics struct {
-	scope         tally.Scope
-	updatedValues tally.Counter
-	flush         map[flushKey]flushMetrics
-	mtx           sync.RWMutex
+	scope tally.Scope
+	write map[metricListType]writeMetrics
+	flush map[flushKey]flushMetrics
+	mtx   sync.RWMutex
 }
 
 // flushMetrics are the metrics produced by a flush task processing the metric element.
@@ -258,6 +262,11 @@ type flushMetrics struct {
 	forwardLags map[forwardKey]tally.Histogram
 }
 
+type writeMetrics struct {
+	writes        tally.Counter
+	updatedValues tally.Counter
+}
+
 func newFlushMetrics(scope tally.Scope) flushMetrics {
 	forwardLagBuckets := tally.DurationBuckets{
 		10 * time.Millisecond,
@@ -294,6 +303,13 @@ func newFlushMetrics(scope tally.Scope) flushMetrics {
 	return m
 }
 
+func newWriteMetrics(scope tally.Scope) writeMetrics {
+	return writeMetrics{
+		updatedValues: scope.Counter("updated-values"),
+		writes:        scope.Counter("writes"),
+	}
+}
+
 func (f flushMetrics) forwardLag(key forwardKey) tally.Histogram {
 	return f.forwardLags[key]
 }
@@ -328,9 +344,9 @@ func (f forwardKey) toTags() map[string]string {
 
 func (f flushKey) toTags() map[string]string {
 	return map[string]string{
-		"resolution": f.resolution.String(),
-		"list-type":  f.listType.String(),
-		"flush-type": f.flushType.String(),
+		resolutionLabel: f.resolution.String(),
+		listTypeLabel:   f.listType.String(),
+		flushTypeLabel:  f.flushType.String(),
 	}
 }
 
@@ -354,6 +370,26 @@ func (e *elemMetrics) flushMetrics(key flushKey) flushMetrics {
 	return m
 }
 
+func (e *elemMetrics) writeMetrics(key metricListType) writeMetrics {
+	e.mtx.RLock()
+	m, ok := e.write[key]
+	if ok {
+		e.mtx.RUnlock()
+		return m
+	}
+	e.mtx.RUnlock()
+	e.mtx.Lock()
+	m, ok = e.write[key]
+	if ok {
+		e.mtx.Unlock()
+		return m
+	}
+	m = newWriteMetrics(e.scope.Tagged(map[string]string{listTypeLabel: key.String()}))
+	e.write[key] = m
+	e.mtx.Unlock()
+	return m
+}
+
 // ElemOptions are the parameters for constructing a new elemBase.
 type ElemOptions struct {
 	aggregatorOpts  Options
@@ -368,9 +404,9 @@ func NewElemOptions(aggregatorOpts Options) ElemOptions {
 		aggregatorOpts:  aggregatorOpts,
 		aggregationOpts: raggregation.NewOptions(aggregatorOpts.InstrumentOptions()),
 		elemMetrics: &elemMetrics{
-			updatedValues: scope.Counter("updated-values"),
-			scope:         scope,
-			flush:         make(map[flushKey]flushMetrics),
+			scope: scope,
+			write: make(map[metricListType]writeMetrics),
+			flush: make(map[flushKey]flushMetrics),
 		},
 	}
 }
@@ -420,6 +456,7 @@ func (e *elemBase) resetSetData(data ElemData, useDefaultAggregation bool) error
 	e.closed = false
 	e.idPrefixSuffixType = data.IDPrefixSuffixType
 	e.listType = data.ListType
+	e.writeMetrics = e.metrics.writeMetrics(e.listType)
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/src/aggregator/aggregator/elem_base_test.go b/src/aggregator/aggregator/elem_base_test.go
index 7f8ee0b2fc..63bd786dbc 100644
--- a/src/aggregator/aggregator/elem_base_test.go
+++ b/src/aggregator/aggregator/elem_base_test.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/m3db/m3/src/metrics/pipeline"
 	"github.com/m3db/m3/src/metrics/pipeline/applied"
 	"github.com/m3db/m3/src/metrics/transformation"
+	"github.com/m3db/m3/src/x/clock"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 )
@@ -44,7 +45,7 @@ func mustNewOp(t require.TestingT, ttype transformation.Type) transformation.Op
 }
 
 func TestElemBaseID(t *testing.T) {
-	e := &elemBase{}
+	e := newTestElemBase()
 	require.NoError(t, e.resetSetData(testCounterElemData, false))
 	require.Equal(t, testCounterID, e.ID())
 }
@@ -86,7 +87,7 @@ func TestElemBaseResetSetData(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		}),
 	}
-	e := &elemBase{}
+	e := newTestElemBase()
 	elemData := testCounterElemData
 	elemData.AggTypes = testAggregationTypesExpensive
 	elemData.NumForwardedTimes = 3
@@ -112,7 +113,7 @@ func TestElemBaseResetSetDataNoRollup(t *testing.T) {
 			Transformation: pipeline.TransformationOp{Type: transformation.Absolute},
 		},
 	})
-	e := &elemBase{}
+	e := newTestElemBase()
 	elemData := testCounterElemData
 	elemData.Pipeline = pipelineNoRollup
 	err := e.resetSetData(elemData, false)
@@ -126,7 +127,7 @@ func TestElemBaseForwardedIDWithDefaultPipeline(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestElemBaseForwardedIDWithCustomPipeline(t *testing.T) {
-	e := &elemBase{}
+	e := newTestElemBase()
 	require.NoError(t, e.resetSetData(testCounterElemData, false))
 	fid, ok := e.ForwardedID()
 	require.True(t, ok)
@@ -139,8 +140,12 @@ func TestElemBaseForwardedAggregationKeyWithDefaultPipeline(t *testing.T) {
 	require.False(t, ok)
 }
 
+func newTestElemBase() elemBase {
+	return newElemBase(NewElemOptions(NewOptions(clock.NewOptions())))
+}
+
 func TestElemBaseForwardedAggregationKeyWithCustomPipeline(t *testing.T) {
-	e := &elemBase{}
+	e := newTestElemBase()
 	elemData := testCounterElemData
 	elemData.NumForwardedTimes = 3
 	require.NoError(t, e.resetSetData(elemData, false))
@@ -164,7 +169,7 @@ func TestElemBaseForwardedAggregationKeyWithCustomPipeline(t *testing.T) {
 }
 
 func TestElemBaseMarkAsTombStoned(t *testing.T) {
-	e := &elemBase{}
+	e := newTestElemBase()
 	require.False(t, e.tombstoned)
 
 	// Marking a closed element tombstoned has no impact.
diff --git a/src/aggregator/aggregator/gauge_elem_gen.go b/src/aggregator/aggregator/gauge_elem_gen.go
index 967ab7abbf..65e60d1138 100644
--- a/src/aggregator/aggregator/gauge_elem_gen.go
+++ b/src/aggregator/aggregator/gauge_elem_gen.go
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ func (e *GaugeElem) AddUnique(
 	versionsSeen.Set(version)
 
 	if metric.Version > 0 {
-		e.metrics.updatedValues.Inc(1)
+		e.writeMetrics.updatedValues.Inc(1)
 		for i := range metric.Values {
 			if err := lockedAgg.aggregation.UpdateVal(timestamp, metric.Values[i], metric.PrevValues[i]); err != nil {
 				return err
@@ -630,6 +630,7 @@ func (e *GaugeElem) findOrCreate(
 	alignedStartNanos int64,
 	createOpts createAggregationOptions,
 ) (*lockedGaugeAggregation, error) {
+	e.writeMetrics.writes.Inc(1)
 	alignedStart := xtime.UnixNano(alignedStartNanos)
 	found, err := e.find(alignedStart)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/aggregator/aggregator/generic_elem.go b/src/aggregator/aggregator/generic_elem.go
index 00664b0621..74e52178b1 100644
--- a/src/aggregator/aggregator/generic_elem.go
+++ b/src/aggregator/aggregator/generic_elem.go
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ func (e *GenericElem) AddUnique(
 	versionsSeen.Set(version)
 
 	if metric.Version > 0 {
-		e.metrics.updatedValues.Inc(1)
+		e.writeMetrics.updatedValues.Inc(1)
 		for i := range metric.Values {
 			if err := lockedAgg.aggregation.UpdateVal(timestamp, metric.Values[i], metric.PrevValues[i]); err != nil {
 				return err
@@ -693,6 +693,7 @@ func (e *GenericElem) findOrCreate(
 	alignedStartNanos int64,
 	createOpts createAggregationOptions,
 ) (*lockedAggregation, error) {
+	e.writeMetrics.writes.Inc(1)
 	alignedStart := xtime.UnixNano(alignedStartNanos)
 	found, err := e.find(alignedStart)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/src/aggregator/aggregator/timer_elem_gen.go b/src/aggregator/aggregator/timer_elem_gen.go
index 1523ae21a9..b824d11120 100644
--- a/src/aggregator/aggregator/timer_elem_gen.go
+++ b/src/aggregator/aggregator/timer_elem_gen.go
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ func (e *TimerElem) AddUnique(
 	versionsSeen.Set(version)
 
 	if metric.Version > 0 {
-		e.metrics.updatedValues.Inc(1)
+		e.writeMetrics.updatedValues.Inc(1)
 		for i := range metric.Values {
 			if err := lockedAgg.aggregation.UpdateVal(timestamp, metric.Values[i], metric.PrevValues[i]); err != nil {
 				return err
@@ -630,6 +630,7 @@ func (e *TimerElem) findOrCreate(
 	alignedStartNanos int64,
 	createOpts createAggregationOptions,
 ) (*lockedTimerAggregation, error) {
+	e.writeMetrics.writes.Inc(1)
 	alignedStart := xtime.UnixNano(alignedStartNanos)
 	found, err := e.find(alignedStart)
 	if err != nil {