Based on published data for Austria, Hungary, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain and the United Kingdom, this article investigates long-term trends in aboveground human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) and discusses the relationships between population, economic growth, changes in biomass use and land-use intensity and their influences on national HANPP trajectories. Analyses of long-term HANPP trajectories, in combination with accounts of material and energy flows, can provide important insights into the sustainability of land use, thereby increasing the understanding of limits to growth.