The increasing scrutiny of the sustainability of current economic systems has led to a growing interest in alternative approaches. In this context, the circular economy model has emerged as a holistic system that aims to enhance resource efficiency, reduce waste generation, and minimize environmental impacts by encompassing all stages from production to consumption. While this model is frequently addressed with a focus on production, the consumption dimension remains relatively underexplored in the literature. This study aims to examine the relationship between circular economy and consumption through a bibliometric analysis of academic publications indexed in the Web of Science database. To this end, a total of 3,489 publications published between 1998 and 2023 were analyzed. Using VOSviewer software, the analysis visualized publication languages, annual publication trends, citation and keyword patterns, as well as author, institutional, and country-level collaboration networks. The findings reveal a sharp increase in academic interest since 2016, peaking in 2022. Themes such as sustainable consumption, the sharing economy, and environmental policy emerge as key areas of focus, while China, Spain, and Italy stand out as leading contributors to the literature. The study also provides a comprehensive overview of the most influential authors, journals, and keyword clusters. Overall, the results highlight key trends and research directions in the circular economy and consumption literature and offer insights into future research potentials.
Oral et al. (Fri,) studied this question.