Scientific articles on circular economy

The data shows an exponential yearly increase in the number of scientific articles on circular economy, representing just 0.01% of all articles in 2010 and jumping to 0.62% in 2023 globally and from 0.01% in 2010 to 1.29% in 2023 in the EU27. The exponential growth starts in 2016 with an acceleration in 2019 until 2021. After 2021, the share of CE articles increases further but at a lower growth rate than before. In 2023, the absolute number of global and EU publications decreased and the number of CE publications in the EU decreased as well, while globally, the absolute number of CE publications increased further in 2023 reaching around 3900 articles. Furthermore, the EU27 has consistently had a higher share of publications related to the Circular Economy compared to the global average.

The increasing shares indicate a rising level of academic interest and commitment to exploring Circular Economy principles. A total of 36 CE-related keywords were checked which all largely display the same trend. A large acceleration can be seen in the academic research from 2019 onwards, and 27 out of 36 keywords have a decrease in 2023. However, the circular economy and related keywords have also become buzzwords.

The "ideal" or final state would be when the CE becomes a central theme across most industries and scientific fields. In this hypothetical scenario, the share of articles could become much higher, potentially comprising a significant portion of environmental, industrial, and economic research publications. With global share hovering around 0.62% and EU27 at 1.29%, we are still far from that ideal state, though the trajectory shows rapid growth, particularly in the EU27.