Contemporary empirical studies on the resource intensity of the economic
process provide evidence of a gradual de-linking between natural resources use and eco-
nomic growth. Resource intensity is evaluated through the Domestic Material Consump-
tion/Gross Domestic Product (DMC/GDP) ratio, defined as the material intensity index.
Trajectories of this ratio support the optimistic view that economic output is becoming
progressively less dependent on resource flows, hence GDP is gradually dematerialized.
The present study asserts that the DMC/GDP indicator fails to take into account the
biophysical properties of the production process which define the resource requirements of
the economy. The present study proposes the ‘‘resources required for producing one unit of
GDP per Capita (Income)’’, as an alternative indicator for evaluating the resource
requirements of the economy. The resource requirement, evaluated at the level of income,
approximates the human scale of production; goods should embody certain biophysical
properties in order to satisfy human needs. The trajectories of DMC/Income index for
global growth rejects the vision of a dematerialized growth and the de-linkage of the
economy from natural resources
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