Lisbon, May 7, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal exhausts its natural resources for 2026 on Thursday, two days later than in 2025, meaning residents now consume "on credit," data from the Global Footprint Network (an international sustainability research organisation) shows.
The international organisation explains that overshoot day indicates 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.
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.
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.
Qatar ranks worst globally, exhausting its share on 4 February.
Honduras sits at the other end of the scale, with an overshoot day on 27 November.
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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