Pre-study: Indicators on circular economy in the Nordic countries

A systematic and continuously measurement of the progress towards the circular economy can inform decision making and policies, and thus strengthen the circular transition. However, this pre-study, mapping circular economy indicators across the Nordic countries on both national and sub-national level, reveals that as of 2020, data streams and indicators are missing for the inner loops of the circular economy. A monitoring system embracing only selected aspects of the circular economy (where data is readily available) risks exaggerating the focus on these areas and downgrade the importance of other areas where data is unattainable, even though the latter may (in principle) be creating more circular value (such as prolonging products’ lifetimes).