Study Reveals Andorra's Massive Hidden Ecological Footprint from Imports

A recent scientific study has exposed Andorra's heavy reliance on imported resources to sustain its economic model, revealing an ecological footprint far larger than conventional statistics suggest.

Published in the journal *Ecological Economics*, the research shows that Andorra uses 40 times more land area and 22 times more water through imports than available domestically to meet its food and energy needs. The findings come from researchers Juan Jesús Larrabeiti-Rodríguez, Oriol Travesset-Baró, and Mario Giampietro, affiliated with Andorra Recerca + Innovació and experts in socio-ecological systems. The work forms part of Larrabeiti-Rodríguez's doctoral thesis at the University of Andorra.

The team applied the MuSIASEM approach—Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism—which examines not just domestic consumption and production but also the resources required to generate imported goods and services. This method uncovers hidden environmental and social impacts often overlooked in standard metrics.

For energy, sustaining current consumption levels would demand 40 times the country's land surface if produced locally, alongside six times more water and 17 times higher greenhouse gas emissions. Food imports, meanwhile, originate from production needing 15 times more farmland, 22 times more water, and eight times more labour hours than Andorra could supply itself.

The authors argue this externalisation masks the true scale of Andorra's pressures, transferred to other regions worldwide. Despite moderate per capita emissions and a service-based economy, the principality shifts much of its ecological burden abroad via energy and food imports.

Such dependency raises concerns about vulnerability to global disruptions, from climate events to economic or geopolitical shocks, given limited domestic production in key areas like energy and agriculture. Policies on energy transition or food sovereignty risk being misleading without accounting for these offshored impacts, the study warns.

Researchers urge integrating MuSIASEM-style analysis into public policy assessments on sustainability, energy, and land planning. They call for viewing Andorra not in isolation but as part of global resource networks, prompting a rethink of growth limits, welfare, and resilience with environmental justice in mind.