Population and consumption both shape demand for natural resources. The impact depends on how much people consume, how goods and services are produced, and how fairly resources are shared. Meeting everyone’s needs while protecting nature means examining these factors together, with the greatest responsibility falling on those who consume the most.

What is resource consumption?

Resource consumption is the use of materials, energy, water and land to provide goods and services. Food, homes, transport and electricity all involve resources. Some materials remain in use for decades; others become waste quickly. The amount used and the environmental harm caused are related, but they are not the same measure.

A material footprint measures the raw materials extracted worldwide to meet final consumption demand. It includes materials used along supply chains, not just what is extracted within a country. Per capita means per person: it helps distinguish a country’s total use from its average use for each resident. National averages can still conceal large inequalities.

Source: UN Statistics Division, material footprint and consumption measures.

How does population growth affect resource use?

Population growth can increase total demand for food, housing, transport and other services. But a population count alone cannot tell us the resulting resource use or environmental impact. Consumption per person, infrastructure, production methods, technology and public policy also matter.

For any consistently defined measure, total use equals population multiplied by average use per person. That arithmetic is a starting point, not a complete explanation. For example, a community can grow while its use of a particular resource falls if average use falls sufficiently. Whether this happens must be checked against evidence for that resource, place and period.

The IPCC’s assessment of emissions trends and drivers examines population and economic growth alongside technology and consumption. Emissions and material use are different measures; progress on one does not automatically establish progress on the other.

Do people consume the same amount of resources?

No. UNEP’s Global Resources Outlook 2024 reports that high-income countries use around six times as much material per person as low-income countries. This is a comparison between country income groups, not a claim that everyone within a group consumes equally.

This inequality matters for decisions about responsibility. Reducing excessive consumption should go alongside better access to housing, food, energy and public services for people whose basic needs are unmet. Asking everyone to make the same reduction would ignore those different starting points.

Source: UNEP, Global Resources Outlook 2024 release.

Is global resource use increasing?

UNEP’s 2024 assessment reports that extraction of natural resources tripled over the preceding five decades. It projects that, without concerted action, extraction could be about 60% higher in 2060 than in 2020. This is a conditional projection, not an unavoidable outcome or a measure of how much each person will use.

The report examines policy pathways that reduce environmental harm while improving wellbeing. The useful question is therefore not simply how many people there are, but how societies provide a decent life and which production and consumption patterns need to change.

Source: UNEP, Global Resources Outlook 2024.

Can efficiency reduce consumption?

Efficiency can reduce the resources needed to provide a service. However, lower costs or increased demand can offset some savings: this is known as a rebound effect. The outcome depends on the technology, behaviour and policies involved. It is too sweeping to say that efficiency never reduces resource use, or that efficiency alone guarantees a fall in total use.

The IPCC’s assessment of demand and services examines these trade-offs. Repair, reuse, longer-lasting products and well-designed transport and housing systems can contribute, alongside measures that address excessive demand. Their results need to be measured rather than assumed.

What about food, water and pollution?

Food and water illustrate why population, consumption and access must be considered together. Demand depends partly on the number of people, but also on diets, waste, agricultural methods and infrastructure. A national or global total does not show which households can obtain nutritious food or safe drinking water.

Our population, food security and water guide explains those distinctions with dated sources. For pollution, decisions about materials, production, energy and waste services matter; people should not be labelled as polluters simply because they exist.

Fair choices for people and nature

Population Matters examines the connections between demographic change, sustainable development and the environment. Our position is that people should have a voice in the decisions affecting their lives, and those with greater resources and environmental impacts should take greater responsibility.

Reproductive rights and bodily autonomy are ends in themselves. Everyone should be free to decide whether and when to have children, with access to healthcare, education and voluntary family planning services. These rights must never depend on delivering a population or environmental target.

Explore world population graphs and data and consider how demographic evidence can inform services alongside consumption, inequality and local priorities.

Reviewed 20 October 2026. Figures retain their source edition and reference periods; projections are conditional and may be revised.