Lisbon, May 6, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal runs out of available natural resources for 2026 on Thursday, two days later than in 2025, and will then begin consuming resources “on credit”, data from the Global Footprint Network (an international sustainability research organisation) shows.
Previously, the country exhausted its resources on 5 May 2025, indicating a slight sustainability improvement.
Portuguese environmental NGO, Zero, noted this stabilisation in resource consumption. In a statement on the country’s ecological footprint, the association mentioned the slight improvement compared to 2025.
However, it said the country still exceeds its available resources to maintain the lifestyle of its residents in less than five months.
If everyone on Earth lived like an average person in Portugal, humanity would require about 2.9 planets to sustain its resource needs.
Zero said the productive area available to regenerate resources and absorb waste globally would run out on 7 May. From that date, it would be necessary to use natural resources intended for use from 1 January 2027.
The NGO said Portugal has lacked the capacity to provide natural resources for production and consumption for many years. It noted the overshoot date – 7 May – is the same as in 2022 and 2023.
In 2024, the country reached overshoot on 28 May, falling to 5 May in 2025, a similar date to 2026.
This result places Portugal within the European Union (EU) average, which reached its overshoot day on 3 May, which also represents a slight improvement over 2025.
Some EU countries exhausted their yearly resources months ago. Global Footprint Network calculations show Luxembourg ran out on 17 February. Only Qatar performed worse, exhausting its share on 4 February.
Honduras sits at the other end of the scale, with an overshoot day on 27 November.
Canada, the United States and Denmark run through resources faster than Portugal, hitting their limit in March. Austria, France and Croatia began using “credit” in April.
Germany, China, the United Kingdom, Greece and Spain remain more sustainable than Portugal. Greece and Spain share a 4 June overshoot date, while Brazil reaches its limit on 14 August.
The international organisation says that between 1 January and 7 May, people in Portugal consumed as many natural resources as Earth's ecosystems can regenerate in a year. From now on, the country uses more land and sea resources than are available and emits more carbon dioxide than nature can absorb.
Zero says the production and consumption model supporting the lifestyle of people in Portugal causes this imbalance. Consumption and transport have the strongest ecological footprints.
To reduce environmental debt (overuse of natural resources), Zero suggests measures such as promoting agriculture that prioritises quality, plant-based protein and soil and ecosystem preservation; expanding remote work to cut commuting and travel; investing in less polluting and public transport; and strengthening regulation to ensure sustainable products reach the market.
Citizens can contribute by reducing animal protein in their diet, using sustainable transport, and adopting circular consumption patterns to avoid "use and throw away" habits.
The ecological footprint measures human demand for renewable resources and essential services, comparing them with Earth’s capacity to provide them (biocapacity).
Global Footprint Network will announce the 2026 Earth Overshoot Day on 5 June, World Environment Day, marking the moment humanity’s demand for environmental resources and services exceeds Earth’s capacity to regenerate them.
In 2025, humanity exhausted its resources on 24 July, a week earlier than the 1 August date in 2024.
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