Resource Intensity Index

Resource Intensity & Resource Efficiency

Resource management is the ability to manage available resource (natural capital, human capital, financial capital) efficiently – regardless of whether the capital is scarce or abundant. Whether a country does or does not possess resources within its boundaries (natural and other resources), efficiency in using resources – whether domestic or imported – is a cost factor, affecting the competitiveness and thus wealth of nations. Over-exploitation of existing natural resources also affects the natural capital of the country, i.e. the ability of a country to support its population and economy with the required resources into the future.

The main implications of a high or low score in resource efficiency/intensity is related to stability and sustained economic growth. Should global prices for raw materials and energy rise significantly in the future (as trends and the majority of available research suggests), the countries in the lower ranks will face substantial higher costs and challenges to maintain their growth compared to countries with higher efficiency and intensity scores.

Resource Efficiciency & Intensity: State of the World

Resource Intensity Scores

Global lowest

Global average

Global best

Ideal World

The global average in resource intensity is 47, while the highest achieved is 64. Even the best performing countries are a long way from being sustainable competitive, i.e. achieving net-zero in a circular economy.

Resource Intensity Trends

Positive Trends

No Visible Trends

Negative Trends

A majority of 61% of all trends in resouce intensity and eficiency are developping positively, mostly thanks to positive developments in energy efficiency. While further improvments can be expected, we are still far from a truly circular economy.

Key Take-Aways: Resource Intensity Index 2023

The Resource Intensity & Efficiency Index is based on both per-capita measurement (intensity) and measurement against total economic output, per-e.g. water usage per unit of GDP (economic efficiency; resource usage per unit of value generated)). The countries with low resource consumption – per capita and per $ – generally achieve a higher score in terms of intensity, while industrial economies with modern efficient production processes general achieve a higher score in terms of efficiency.. As a result, the Resource Intensity /Efficiency sees both developed and lesser developed nation on the top:

When only looking at the Intensity Inex (per capita resource consumption) the lesser developed countries come out on top
Ehn looking at the Resource Efficiency Index (per unit of value generated resource consumption), the highly developed economies transitioning to service economies come out on top
The Resource Efficiency/Intensity Index is topped by Papua New Guinea, followed by the UK, followed by Sweden, Luxembourg, and Switzerland
Congo, Sierra Leone, Malawi, and the Central African Republic are all ranked in the top 20
Germany is ranked 44, the US 88, and Japan 92
China is ranked 141 – both due to the presence of heavy industries, construction activities, but also due to low resource efficiency

The Resource Intensity World Map:

Downloads

GSCI 2023

Download the report: [download id="10255"](PDF) Download the data: [download id="10205"](XLSX)

Download the report: The Global Sustainable Competitiveness Report 2023 (PDF) Download the data: GSCI Scores 2023 (XLSX)

Sustainable & Competitive

Achieving Sustainable Competitiveness: policies for more sustainable AND more prosperous societies: Sustainable. Competitive.

Resource Intensity Ranking 2023

Rank	Country	Score
1	Papua New Guinea	59.6
2	United Kingdom	58.0
3	Sweden	58.0
4	Luxembourg	57.2
5	Switzerland	55.7
6	Democratic Republic of Congo	55.1
7	Sierra Leone	54.9
8	Yemen	54.8
9	Central African Republic	54.0
10	Denmark	53.9
11	Solomon Islands	53.8
12	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	53.2
13	Australia	52.7
14	Dominica	52.3
15	Malawi	52.3
16	Belize	52.1
17	Iceland	51.9
18	El Salvador	51.1
19	Equatorial Guinea	50.9
20	Latvia	50.7
21	Guinea-Bissau	50.2
22	Finland	50.1
23	Grenada	50.1
24	Ireland	49.9
25	Portugal	49.8
26	France	49.8
27	Haiti	49.5
28	Angola	49.4
29	Kiribati	49.1
30	Gambia	49.1
31	Sao Tome and Principe	48.9
32	Vanuatu	48.9
33	Norway	48.8
34	Netherlands	48.6
35	Malta	48.6
36	Spain	48.5
37	Nigeria	48.4
38	Costa Rica	48.3
39	Kenya	48.2
40	Panama	48.0
41	Honduras	47.5
42	Lithuania	47.4
43	Germany	47.4
44	Cameroon	47.4
45	Ethiopia	47.3
46	Gabon	47.0
47	Uganda	47.0
48	Austria	47.0
49	Rwanda	46.8
50	Comoros	46.7
51	Liberia	46.4
52	Tanzania	46.2
53	Burundi	46.1
54	Somalia	46.0
55	Togo	45.8
56	Djibouti	45.7
57	Namibia	45.6
58	Madagascar	45.5
59	Fiji	45.3
60	Italy	45.2

Rank	Country	Score
61	Romania	45.2
62	Lesotho	45.1
63	Slovenia	44.9
64	Chad	44.9
65	Venezuela	44.9
66	Jordan	44.8
67	Canada	44.7
68	Guinea	44.7
69	Zimbabwe	44.6
70	Paraguay	44.5
71	Estonia	44.3
72	Croatia	44.2
73	Montenegro	44.2
74	Cyprus	44.2
75	Belgium	44.1
76	Greece	43.9
77	Cote d'Ivoire	43.7
78	Ghana	43.7
79	Republic of Congo	43.3
80	Slovakia	43.2
81	Guatemala	43.2
82	Niger	43.1
83	Cuba	43.0
84	Israel	42.9
85	Ukraine	42.8
86	New Zealand	42.7
87	Tonga	42.7
88	USA	42.6
89	Czech Republic	42.6
90	Jamaica	42.3
91	Benin	42.2
92	Japan	42.1
93	Afghanistan	42.1
94	Argentina	42.0
95	Hungary	42.0
96	Brazil	42.0
97	Samoa	41.8
98	Poland	41.5
99	Botswana	41.0
100	Uruguay	40.7
101	Maldives	40.7
102	Timor-Leste	40.6
103	Nicaragua	40.6
104	Colombia	40.6
105	St. Kitts and Nevis	40.5
106	Sri Lanka	40.4
107	Chile	40.3
108	Bolivia	40.2
109	Mali	40.2
110	Ecuador	40.1
111	Burkina Faso	40.1
112	Albania	40.0
113	Bangladesh	39.9
114	Trinidad and Tobago	39.8
115	Bahamas	39.8
116	Eritrea	39.2
117	South Sudan	39.1
118	Guyana	38.6
119	Mozambique	38.6
120	Nepal	38.5

Rank	Country	Score
121	Philippines	38.4
123	Brunei	38.2
124	Peru	37.4
125	Cape Verde	37.3
126	West Bank and Gaza	37.2
127	Mauritania	37.0
128	Morocco	36.9
129	Micronesia	36.7
130	Dominican Republic	36.6
131	India	36.6
132	Senegal	36.5
133	Zambia	36.4
134	Bulgaria	35.6
135	Eswatini	35.5
136	Vietnam	35.5
137	Cambodia	35.2
138	Belarus	35.2
139	Burma	35.1
141	China	34.8
142	Singapore	34.6
143	Bosnia and Herzegovina	34.5
144	South Africa	34.5
145	Sudan	34.2
146	South Korea	34.0
147	Malaysia	33.9
149	Syria	33.6
150	Mexico	33.4
151	Egypt	33.2
152	Pakistan	32.7
153	Tunisia	32.4
154	Indonesia	32.2
155	Bhutan	32.1
156	Qatar	32.0
157	Moldova	31.0
158	North Macedonia	30.8
159	Thailand	30.7
160	Mongolia	30.4
161	Mauritius	30.3
162	Kyrgistan	29.8
163	Bahrain	29.6
164	Georgia	29.4
165	Seychelles	29.4
166	Russia	29.2
167	Armenia	28.7
168	Turkmenistan	28.5
169	Kuwait	28.2
170	Kazakhstan	27.8
171	Azerbaijan	27.7
172	Tajikistan	27.0
173	Algeria	26.9
174	Turkey	26.8
175	Suriname	26.7
176	United Arab Emirates	26.1
177	Uzbekistan	26.0
178	Lebanon	25.8
179	Saudi Arabia	25.8
180	Serbia	25.5