Urban phosphorus metabolism is of particular importance due to the global scarcity of phosphorus, food security of residents, and potential impacts on urban environment and peri-urban ecosystems. The world is rapidly urbanizing with significant changes in living standards, including the quantity, quality and structure of daily food consumed. As a result, urban phosphorus metabolism through food consumption, which is an important process of the metabolism, has been significantly impacted. The purpose of this study is to analyze the variation in food phosphorus consumption by Xiamen residents, its environmental loads in 1988-2010, and to examine the associated economic and social factors by using the Spearman correlation analysis. The key stocks and flows of phosphorus through food consumption were explored using a material flow analysis (MFA) approach to develop a conceptual model of phosphorus flow for urban food consumption. The results showed that there was a fluctuating growth in the total food phosphorus consumption, reached 1,128.88 t in 2010 because of the resident population boom; and the dynamic change in per capita phosphorus consumption varied between 315 g and 380 g, showed an M-shape with the two modes in 1998 and 2003. In addition, high phosphorus food increased sharply. For example, dairy products and aquatic products accounted for 0.3% and 6.8% of the per capita phosphorus consumption, respectively, in 1988, but the proportion reached 14.9% and 15.5%, respectively, in 2010. The results of the correlation analysis showed that there was a significant positive correlation between per capita phosphorus consumption in grain and the Engel coefficient, as well as the average number of people in the family. However, there was a significant negative correlation with per capita disposable income, the food price index and the proportion of college graduates. The correlation between per capita phosphorus consumption in other kinds of food, such as plant oil, fruits, meat, eggs, dairy products and aquatic products, and these factors was opposite. The correlations were significant negative between these kinds of food and the former group of socio-economic factors, but with the latter group of socio-economic factors the correlations were significant positive. The variation of food phosphorus consumption was not significantly correlated with these socio-economic factors, so these socio-economic factors mainly exerted their influence on per capita phosphorus consumption in all kinds of food. As the total food phosphorus consumption increased, the environmental load of phosphorus from food leaped, the value in 2010 tripled over that in 1991. The proportion of phosphorus in the soil significantly increased from 59.7% to 85.1%, which partly due to a growing amount of kitchen waste and the landfilled sludge. Since the phosphorus mainly remained in soil and water, the proportion of phosphorus in the water decreased accordingly. Other factors which may have influenced the results are including a prohibition of phosphorus on detergents, and improvements in wastewater treatment. Thus, it has become the most important mission to develop and implement efficient strategies to facilitate phosphorus recycling. Relevant solutions for improving phosphorus recycling efficiency should be studied in the future to establish a strong coordination between urban and peri-urban areas for nutrient recycling to attain sustainable development.