The Elusive Phenomenon: Unveiling Deconsumption in the EU

Abstract

This article analyzes the phenomenon of deconsumption, which is relatively new and insufficiently researched or defined. Based on a review of the literature on the subject, it was found that there was little interest in deconsumption compared with sustainable consumption. Moreover, the number of scientific publications was negligible as the concept of deconsumption was rarely studied as a phenomenon. In addition, it should be noted that deconsumption can play a role in sustainable development and care for the environment and natural resources. Our study on this phenomenon sought to determine whether the phenomenon has spread to a noticeable degree, despite the deconsumption trend, which is important for its effective popularization in societies. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze whether the deconsumption phenomenon was reflected in macroeconomic data on consumption in selected European Union countries prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis of macroeconomic data on per capita consumption in the years 2000–2019 did not reveal a clear phenomenon of deconsumption; however, changes in the consumption structure were identified. In some countries, consumption fluctuated or decreased in certain sectors, suggesting the possible emergence of deconsumption. The computation method used in this study was fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM).