Municipal waste recycled in Portugal
Portugal: Municipal waste recycled was 1.63 million tonnes in 2023. ▲ Rising
Municipal waste recycled in Portugal, 2000–2023
Source: United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in tonnes.
Analysis
In 2023, municipal waste recycled in Portugal stood at 1.63 million tonnes. That is the highest value across all 24 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.6% on the previous year and up 37.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, municipal waste recycled in Portugal peaked at 1.63 million tonnes in 2023 and was at its lowest, 347,000 tonnes, in 2002.
That places Portugal 27th out of 90 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Municipal waste recycled in Portugal, year by year
| Year | tonnes | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 496,000 tonnes | — |
| 2001 | 560,000 tonnes | +12.9% |
| 2002 | 347,000 tonnes | -38.0% |
| 2003 | 513,000 tonnes | +47.8% |
| 2004 | 628,000 tonnes | +22.4% |
| 2005 | 719,000 tonnes | +14.5% |
| 2006 | 777,000 tonnes | +8.1% |
| 2007 | 849,000 tonnes | +9.3% |
| 2008 | 949,000 tonnes | +11.8% |
| 2009 | 1.07 million tonnes | +13.0% |
| 2010 | 1.02 million tonnes | -5.0% |
| 2011 | 1.04 million tonnes | +2.3% |
| 2012 | 1.24 million tonnes | +19.4% |
| 2013 | 1.19 million tonnes | -4.5% |
| 2014 | 1.43 million tonnes | +20.5% |
| 2015 | 1.42 million tonnes | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 1.51 million tonnes | +6.3% |
| 2017 | 1.46 million tonnes | -3.6% |
| 2018 | 1.52 million tonnes | +4.2% |
| 2019 | 1.53 million tonnes | +0.5% |
| 2020 | 1.41 million tonnes | -7.4% |
| 2021 | 1.62 million tonnes | +14.4% |
| 2022 | 1.61 million tonnes | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 1.63 million tonnes | +1.6% |
Portugal compared with similar countries
- Portugal's 1.63 million tonnes is above the median for high income countries, which is 948,000 tonnes, 1.7× the median. (57 countries reporting)
- Portugal's 1.63 million tonnes is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 1.06 million tonnes, 1.5× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 691,000 tonnes | 347,000 tonnes | 1.07 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.34 million tonnes | 1.02 million tonnes | 1.53 million tonnes | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.57 million tonnes | 1.41 million tonnes | 1.63 million tonnes | 4 |
Countries ranked near Portugal
More environment data for Portugal
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -0.6043 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -0.5127 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.44 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 2.15 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual -3.29 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.1607 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is municipal waste recycled in Portugal?
- Municipal waste recycled in Portugal was 1.63 million tonnes in 2023, according to United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest municipal waste recycled recorded in Portugal?
- The highest recorded value was 1.63 million tonnes in 2023.
- What is the lowest municipal waste recycled recorded in Portugal?
- The lowest recorded value was 347,000 tonnes in 2002.
- How does Portugal rank for municipal waste recycled?
- Portugal ranks 27th out of 90 countries with data for 2023.
- Is municipal waste recycled rising or falling in Portugal?
- Over the last ten years it is up 37.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Portugal data come from?
- The figures come from United Nations Statistics Division and United Nations Environment Programme – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Municipal waste recycled. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Municipal waste recycled (Tonnes).