Eurostat recorded that in 2021, domestic material consumption of the EU economy went up by 4% following the pandemic in 2020. This means that in 2021 the domestic material consumption of the EU was around 14.1 tonnes per person, compared to 2020 which recorded 13.6 tonnes per person.

The materials recorded were non-metallic materials (53%), biomass (23%), fossil energy (18%), and metal ores (6%).

In 2021, Malta’s average material consumption came in at 12 tonnes per person, which falls below the EU average.

However, from 2000 till 2021, material consumption decreased from 15.4 to 14.1 tonnes per person.

Biomass remained the same over the years, whilst the consumption of non-metallic materials and metal ores was clearly affected during the 2008/09 period during the financial crisis. Whilst recently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the consumption of metal ores was affected significantly.

Fossil energy materials gradually decreased over the years, however, they saw a slight increase from 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Finland, the average material consumption was 35 tonnes per person, whilst in the Netherlands, it was 7 tonnes per person. There is such a significant difference because “each country is influenced by natural endowments with material resources”.

Even the material of consumption varied between different countries. For instance, in 2021 Biomass consumption in Malta was recorded to be a tonne per person, which is the lowest in the EU. In comparison to Ireland, which consumes an average of 8 tonnes per person, due to their livestock production.

This comes as a result of Malta’s limited biomass materials.