Sand is the second-most used resource after water. The world consumes about 50 billion metric tons of it each year. A report by the United Nations Environmental Programme, which was published in 2022, noted that this staggering volume is enough to build a 27-meter-wide and 27-meter-high wall around the planet Earth every year. But sand is running out.
Causes and Effects of the Global Sand Shortage
The world is consuming 50 billion metric tons of construction-grade sand per year to keep up with the growing phase of urbanization and construction activities. However, the current level of consumption is exhausting natural sources. Other organizations have ventured into illegal sand mining and extraction.
Causes of Sand Shortage: Construction Boom Amidst Slow Rate of Natural Replenishment
Most people would assume it is impossible for the world to run out of sand. There is some truth to this. However, in the construction industry, not all sand is usable. Dessert sand is wind-eroded. This makes the grains too smooth and round to lock together for concrete. Construction requires rough and angular sands found in riverbeds, lakes, and shorelines.
Rapid urbanization and industrialization across the world have resulted in a sustained construction boom. This is the single biggest driver for the demand for sand because it is the primary ingredient in concrete, asphalt, and glass. For example, to make one ton of cement, about 6 to 7 tons of sand and gravel are extracted from the earth and used in construction.
Countries like Singapore and Dubai have also used massive amounts of sand to create new land from the sea through their land reclamation programs. China has also used sand to build artificial islands on the South China Sea. Moreover, Singapore has grown its land area by 25 percent, and these land reclamation developments were dependent on imported sand.
Urbanization is expected to grow. Estimates by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs indicate that the global urban population will increase from 4.4 billion in 2021 to 6.7 billion in 2050. This will represent a 68 percent urbanization rate. The demographic shift will necessitate extensive construction activities and boost demand for sand.
Moreover, aside from demand from construction, another factor behind the emerging and growing global sand shortage is the rate of natural replenishment. Sand is considered a finite resource on a human timescale. It takes thousands of years for rocks to erode into sand. The world is consuming sand at a rate three times faster than nature can replace it.
Sand mining also has environmental offshoots. These include riverbed deepening, coastal erosion, habitat destruction, reduced biodiversity, and water pollution. Several countries have banned or restricted sand exports in response to these environmental problems. Hence, while necessary for the environment, these legal restrictions have tightened the global supply.
Effects of Sand Shortage: Rise of Illegal Sand Trade and Further Environmental Destruction
Andrew Zaleski of Popular Mechanics reported on the emergence of violent sand mafias. Criminal organizations in nations like India, Morocco, and Indonesia have stepped in to exploit the global sand shortage. These groups are involved in the illegal extraction and dredging of millions of tons of sand from protected riverbed and coastal environmental zones.
The sand mafia is also reported to use not only bribery but also brutal intimidation to protect their lucrative operations. In India, hundreds of deaths are linked to these cartels. The financial scale of the illicit sand trade is also immense. Estimates show that the global illegal sand market is worth between 200 billion and 300 billion U.S. dollars each year.
Both legal and illegal sand extraction have environmental implications. In Indonesia, during the time when sea sand mining was legal, Bioantika and H. A. Octaviano wrote in The Conversation that 23 islands in Riau Province in Sumatra were destroyed. Similar activities eroded the shoreline and damaged the coral reefs in Banten Province on Java Island.
Removing sand in riverbeds can also result in infrastructure damage. Rex Weyler of Greenpeace noted that sand mining caused a bridge in Taiwan to collapse in 2000. In Portugal, the following year, a bridge also collapsed while a bus was passing over, thus killing 70 people. A similar incident happened in India in 2016 when a bridge collapsed and killed 26 people.
Several solutions have been proposed to address the global sand shortage. Two of which center on using manufactured sand and recycled aggregate. Crushing stones or recycling demolition waste can help reduce sand mining. These solutions adhere to the principles of sustainability and circular economy, but they currently lack the scale to meet global demand.
However, according to a white paper by the Aimix Group, a Chinese manufacturer and supplier of construction equipment, manufactured sand is estimated to account for more than 50 percent of the global aggregate mix by 2027 due to advances in manufacturing. Moreover, in countries like China, it is also estimated to account for 70 percent to 80 percent.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Aimix Group. n.d. “White Paper on Sand and Aggregate Industry.” Aimix Group. Available online
- Bioantika and Octaviano, H. A. 22 January 2025. “The Last Time It Was Legal, Exports of Sea Sand Destroyed Dozens of Indonesian Islands. Now, the Ban is Being Lifted.” The Conversation. Available online
- United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2025. World Urbanization Prospects 2025: Summary of Results. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Available via PDF
- United Nations Environment Programme. 2022. Sand and Sustainability: 10 Strategic Recommendations to Avert a Crisis. United Nations Environment Programme. URI: 500.11822/38362
- Weyler, R. 16 November 2018. “Sand Depletion.” Greenpeace. Available online
- Zaleski, A. 13 January 2026. “The World is Running Out of Sand—And Thieves are Willing to Kill for It.” Popular Mechanics. Available online