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Private investment in circular economy sectors across EU Member States has remained relatively stable as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since 2005, fluctuating between 0.6% and 0.9%. In absolute terms, investment increased from approximately €58 billion in 2005 to €131 billion in 2023, indicating continued but still modest private capital allocation to circular activities.
Private investment in circular economy sectors across the EU27 has shown only limited growth relative to the size of the EU economy. According to the EU Circular Economy Monitoring Framework indicator, private investment fluctuated between 0.6% and 0.9% between 2005 and 2023, remaining stable at 0.8% since 2020 (Eurostat, 2025).
This limited relative growth is particularly noteworthy given the increasing policy attention devoted to circular economy objectives since the Circular Economy Action Plan, rising corporate sustainability commitments, and growing awareness of material dependency and resource security risks. These developments have not yet translated into a substantial reallocation of private capital towards circular activities.
Overall, the progress of the circular economy and the scaling of circular businesses in the EU remains very limited: Linear economic models with very high material demand and short-lived products prevails, waste generation increases and the EU’s circular material use rate increased by only 1.5 percentage points between 2010 and 2024 (EEA, 2026).
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