According to Eurostat the Member States recording the highest increases in resource productivity were generally also those where domestic material consumption decreased the most. Eurostat explains that this was particularly the case for Italy, Cyprus and Spain where DMC almost halved between 2000 and 2015.

In the European Union (EU), resource productivity increased to 2.00 €/kg in 2015 from 1.48 €/kg in 2000, an increase of 35.4% in real terms. Resource productivity measures how efficiently natural resources are used by the economy and indicates whether economic growth is compatible with a more efficient use of the natural resources from the environment.

According to the new DMC estimates for 2015, 13.2 tonnes of crops, minerals and metals were consumed per inhabitant in the EU, compared with 15.5 tonnes in 2000. This reduction is equivalent to savings of 2.3 tonnes per person, meaning that in 2015 more than 6kg less was consumed per person and per day than in 2000.

Across Member States, the highest resource productivity in 2015 was recorded in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (both 3.44 €/kg), ahead of Luxembourg (3.39 €/kg) and Italy (3.04 €/kg). At the opposite end of the scale, seven Member States registered resource productivity lower than 1 €/kg: Bulgaria (0.28 €/kg), Romania (0.31 €/kg), Estonia and Latvia (both 0.50 €/kg), Poland (0.64 €/kg), Lithuania (0.80 €/kg) and Hungary (0.88 €/kg).

Compared with 2000, an overwhelming majority of EU Member States have seen their resource productivity in 2015 rise, with the highest increases being observed in Spain and Cyprus (both +120.3%), followed by Ireland (+98.2%), Italy (+85.4%), Slovenia (+65.9%), the United Kingdom (+64.2%) and the Czech Republic (+62.1%). In contrast, decreases were recorded in Romania (-35.8%), Estonia (-19.1%) and Malta (-7.6%).

Source: Cyprus Mail