Since the start of the millennium, resource productivity in the EU gradually increased from €1.2/kg in 2000 to €2.2/kg in 2019. Resource productivity quantifies the relationship between the size of the economy and the use of natural resources. The value of resource productivity increases when the economy, measured by GDP, grows at a faster rate than the consumption of raw materials, measured by domestic material consumption (DMC).
Source datasets: env_ac_rp (resource productivity), env_ac_mfa (DMC) and nama_10_gdp (GDP)
After a period of moderate growth, resource productivity increased sharply during the financial and economic crisis of 2008-2009 resulting from pronounced falls in domestic material consumption. The crisis affected the material-intensive industries of manufacturing and construction more than the rest of the economy. We do not yet have the data to assess the impact of the current COVID-19 crisis.
Resource productivity highest in the Netherlands
The level of resource productivity varies widely between the EU Member States: from €0.4/kg in Bulgaria and Romania to €5.3/kg in the Netherlands in 2019.
After accounting for price differences, the Netherlands remains the EU Member States with the highest resource productivity (4.5 purchasing power standards (PPS) per kg), followed at a distance by Italy (3.7), Luxembourg (3.5) and Belgium (3.4).
At the opposite end of the scale, four Member States registered resource productivity below 1.00 - Bulgaria and Romania (both 0.8 PPS/kg) and Estonia (0.9).
Source dataset: env_ac_rp
These differences can be explained by a country's natural resources, the diversity of its industrial activities, the role played by its services sector and its construction activities, the scale and patterns of its consumption and its various energy sources.
For more information:
- Eurostat Statistics Explained articles on material flow accounts and resource productivity, resource productivity statistics and physical imports and exports
- Eurostat website section dedicated to material flows and resource productivity
- Eurostat metadata on material flow accounts
- Energy Union and Climate priority of the European Commission
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