Global Circularity Gap Report 2026
The Value Gap
The scale of the opportunity for circular strategies is significant. The global economy loses an initially estimated €25.4 trillion in value annually to linear economy practices due to wasteful patterns of production and consumption —according to the Global Circularity Gap Report 2026, developed by Circle Economy in collaboration with Deloitte Netherlands. Circular strategies can retain and recover much of that value by improving the management of materials and products.
2026 Status
This year’s report ‘The Value Gap’ examines avoidable value losses in today’s linear economy, where resources are extracted, turned into products and then discarded prematurely. According to the analysis, the initial estimate of these losses equals 31% of global gross domestic product, meaning that for every €3 of economic value created globally, about €1 is lost. Losses include material and product mismanagement, as well as the costs unaccounted for in the linear economy. This value gap represents a significant strategic opportunity to redesign systems, capture lost value, and build more resilient, competitive and future-ready business models.
Shining a light on the Value Gap is long overdue, and this research empowers business leaders to explore the potential multi-trillion-dollar opportunity circular solutions can offer. By piloting and scaling circular business models, leaders can translate this potential into value for their businesses.
- David Rakowski, partner, Deloitte UK, global leader for circularity
Main pathways
Value losses are grouped into five interlinked pathways that capture both short-term inefficiencies and longer-term asset erosion: processing losses, energy losses, food losses and waste, end-of-life waste, and the consumption of fixed capital (the deterioration of buildings, infrastructure, and machinery). Together, these pathways reveal how the current economic system not only creates value but also erodes it, highlighting the scale of opportunity for circular strategies to retain value.
The five value loss pathways capture the primary mechanisms through which economic value is lost in linear systems. The results are presented as a range to reflect methodological uncertainty, data limitations, and variability in underlying assumptions.
Action for key stakeholders
Achieving circularity at scale requires collaboration among businesses, policymakers, and financiers to help address systemic value loss and unlock opportunities. Closing the Value Gap is a shared opportunity to help strengthen economic resilience.
Read the full report to explore the findings and learn how your organization can help close the gap on the Circle Economy Foundation webpage.
2025 Status
The 2025 report explored the state of global circularity, revealing that it had fallen further, from 7.2% to 6.9%. This means that only 6.9% of the materials entering the global economy were secondary raw materials.
Despite some bright spots—such as improvements in secondary material use—challenges remained in areas such as rising raw materials extraction, biomass consumption, and stock build-up. The report examined how businesses can take action to help close this gap.
Read the 2025 report on the Circle Economy Foundation webpage.
2024 Status
The 2024 report revealed a decline in global circularity, falling to just 7.2%, placing pressure on the planet’s key systems. The report emphasized that food, the built environment, manufactured goods, and mobility were the primary drivers for a more circular world.
It explored how circularity, by way of support from governments, financial actors, businesses and citizens alike, can positively impact human well-being, within the constraints of planetary boundaries.
Read the 2024 report on the Circle Economy Foundation webpage.
