Why We Should Worry About Sand Demand

Sand isn’t just sand.

Beach volleyball usually cannot be played on a beach because the sand is too firm. Instead, ideal volleyball sand lets players bury their ankles. Meanwhile, solar panels, smartphone screens, and computer chips use high-purity silica sand. By contrast, coarse sand with its large particles has the right texture for construction. But before that, builders need compactible fill sand to form an even base under a structure’s concrete foundation.

People need sand for roads, volleyball, computers, and glass, but so too do ecosystems for filtering water, preserving habitats, and preventing erosion.

And we are using too much of it.

According to a 2026 UN report, “We cannot extract 50 billion tonnes per year of any material without leading to massive impacts on the planet and thus on people’s lives.”

Sand Demand

The UN estimates the world uses 50 billion tons of sand annually. Looking back, China has used more sand during the past 10 years than the U.S. used throughout the 20th century. But looking ahead, Africa could drive our increasing demand for sand.

Sharing a bit of the UN’s complex, overwhelmingly detailed 107-page report, I just wanted to note some of their big ideas:

We should recognize that sand is a foundation of ecosystems and landscapes…

• enables sediment transport
• creates species habitats
• influences vegetation patterns

Somewhat invisible, sand has a long-term (strategic) and cultural impact…

• shapes the identity of coastal communities
• supports food security

In addition, sand regulates natural processes…

• affects river velocity
• enables water filtration
• dissipates wave energy

Crucially also, sand provides livelihoods…

• sustains fisheries
• drives tourism
• supports extraction, transport, equipment makers
• enables construction

Our Bottom Line: Reverend Malthus

We have frequently said that we “treasure what we measure.” Perhaps because we insufficiently measure sand use, sand quantity, and all else about sand, we pay little attention to its endangered supply.

It all takes us back to the Reverend Malthus.

One of the first environmentalists, Reverend Thomas Malthus told us in 1798 that population grows geometrically while resource production expands arithmetically. As a result, he predicted that our supply of natural resources, and especially food, would become increasingly inadequate.

This graph from the 2026 UN Report on Sand and Sustainability echoes Malthus’s predictions:

My sources and more: Thanks to Timothy Taylor’s Conversable Economist for reminding me it was time to return to sand. He also alerted me to the new UN Report on sand and sustainability.

Please note that my summary of sand includes many of the same phrases and words in the UN Report and some parts of past econlife posts.