Domestic Material Consumption decreased by 1.7% in 2016, despite a GDP increase of 1.5% in real terms. This evolution resulted in an increase in productivity associated with the use of materials in 2016 (+3.3%), reinforcing an increasing trend of dematerialization, which began in 2009, resulting in a more efficient use of materials extracted from the environment. The decrease in consumption of materials in the context of economic growth (decoupling) had not been observed since 2010.
In the same year, Portugal recorded a domestic material consumption per capita of 14.8 tons, approaching the European average (13.0 tons), with an improvement in the relative position in the EU28 ranking (from the 21st country with the lowest consumption in 2000 to the 17th in 2016).