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Countries are likely the most important subjects involved in the environmental control and response to global environmental issues, while the majority of the related metabolic analyses are focused on the metabolism at the city scale. A single city or a smaller area is hardly self-sufficient, and its sustainability needs the support of the surrounding environment. Nevertheless, at the country scale, systems exhibit a higher level of self-organization and a corresponding higher level of complexity, addressing the need for applying the metabolic theory at the national scale. Socio-metabolic research is an effective method to study resource and environmental issues and has been applied at different scales. Based on previous studies, this review outlines the origin and development of metabolic theories, metabolic studies at different scales and their research methods, pointing out the relevance of national scale metabolic studies. The interactions among and within the scales are nested, as well as the goals and methods. Socio-metabolic research on scales differ in their priority goals, and the methods adopted must be targeted. In particular, we show the advantages in using the emergy

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