The 2026 edition of the Circularity Gap Report has introduced a new global lens – the ‘Value Gap,’ which quantifies the economic losses of today’s linear economy. Initial estimates suggest the Value Gap amounts to EUR 25.4 trillion, or around EUR 1 in losses for every EUR 3 of economic value created globally.

According to the report, these losses, which occur across production, consumption, and end-of-life systems, are avoidable through value recovery and long-term value retention across economies, enabled by circularity.

The report finds that conventional economic metrics such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) do not capture value loss to linearity, overlooking resource depletion, waste, underutilization, and stock depletion. “As a result,” it argues, “structural value loss remains largely invisible in economic decision-making.”

The report explores five pathways of value loss: processing losses; energy losses; food losses and waste; end-of-life waste; and premature deterioration of fixed capital. It is by targeting these pathways that the Value Gap can be closed, according to the analysis.

Noting that most economic value is lost due to the design of current linear economy that locks in resource extraction, asset underutilization, cost externalization, and waste generation at scale, the report underscores that incremental optimization is insufficient. It calls for a “systemic redesign of how materials are sourced, used, retained, and circulated across the economy.” It makes the case for retaining materials at higher utility and preventing waste and underutilization to enable economies to seize substantial economic gains while at the same time reducing environmental pressures, supply risks, and social externalities.

The report recommends that businesses, financiers, and policymakers align innovation, investment, incentives, and regulation across value chains by using standardized international frameworks such as the Global Circularity Protocol to shift from today’s linear economy to value retention at scale.

Published by Circle Economy in collaboration with Deloitte, the 2026 Circularity Gap Report was launched on 16 April.

Circle Economy started the Circularity Gap Report series in 2018. The series aims to provide decision makers with structured evidence about circular strategies and their economic, environmental, and social impacts, to enable them to adequately consider the quality of life and well-being of people and the planet. [Publication: Circularity Gap Report 2026: The Value Gap] [Publication Landing Page] [Deloitte Press Release] [SDG Knowledge Hub Stories on 2025, 2024, and 2023 Editions]