List of countries by ecological footprint

This is a list of countries by ecological footprint. The table is based on data spanning from 1961 to 2013 from the Global Footprint Network's National Footprint Accounts published in 2016. Numbers are given in global hectares per capita. The world-average ecological footprint in 2016 was 2.75 global hectares per person (22.6 billion in total). With a world-average biocapacity of 1.63 global hectares (gha) per person (12.2 billion in total), this leads to a global ecological deficit of 1.1 global hectares per person (10.4 billion in total).^[1]

For humanity, having a footprint smaller than the planet's biocapacity is a necessary condition for sustainability. After all, ecological overuse is only possible temporarily. A country that consumes more than 1.73 gha per person has a resource demand that is not sustainable world-wide if every country were to exceed that consumption level simultaneously. Countries with a footprint below 1.73 gha per person might not be sustainable: the quality of the footprint may still lead to net long-term ecological destruction. If a country does not have enough ecological resources within its own territory to cover its population's footprint, then it runs an ecological deficit and the country is termed an ecological debtor. Otherwise, it has an ecological reserve and it is called a creditor.^[1] To a significant degree, biocapacity correlates with access to water resources.

Countries and regions

This table below is based on 2012 results (National Footprint Accounts edition 2016). The latest edition (2021), produced by York University,^[2] Footprint Data Foundation,^[3] and Global Footprint Network, is available on Global Footprint Network's website at http://data.footprintnetwork.org. Note that this list contains only 188 countries, covering most of the countries with more than one million inhabitants.

Rank	Country/region	Ecological footprint	Biocapacity	Biocapacity deficit or reserve	Population (millions)	Total biocapacity deficit or reserve (gMha)	Population (millions) for biocapacity to equal ecological footprint*
		(gha/person)
	World	2.75	1.63	-1.12	7753	-10400	2500
1	Luxembourg	15.82	1.68	−14.14	0.63	−7.35	0.055221
2	Aruba	11.88	0.57	−11.31	0.17	−1.13	0.004798
3	Qatar	10.8	1.24	−9.56	2.05	−19.60	0.235373343
4	Australia	9.31	16.57	7.26	23.05	167.34	41.02454
5	United States	8.4	3.76	−4.46	329.5	−1416.05	145.2311
6	Canada	8.17	16.01	7.83	38	272.80	68.27275
7	Kuwait	8.13	0.55	−7.58	3.25	−24.64	0.219865
8	Singapore	7.97	0.05	−7.92	5.3	−41.98	0.03325
9	United Kingdom	7.93	0.56	−7.37	65.648	−483.83	4.635924
10	Trinidad and Tobago	7.92	1.56	−6.36	1.34	−8.52	0.263939
11	Montserrat	7.78	1.36	−6.42	0.005	−0.03	0.000874
12	Oman	7.52	1.92	−5.6	3.31	−18.54	0.845106
13	Bahrain	7.49	0.58	−6.91	1.32	−9.12	0.102216
14	Belgium	7.44	1.19	−6.25	11.6	−69.13	1.769005
15	Sweden	7.25	10.62	3.38	9.51	32.14	13.93051
16	Estonia	6.86	10.53	3.67	1.29	4.73	1.980131
17	Bahamas	6.84	9.55	2.71	0.37	1.00	0.516594
18	Latvia	6.29	9.55	3.26	2.06	6.72	3.127663
19	Israel	6.22	0.35	−5.87	9.1	−44.85	0.429904
20	Mongolia	6.08	15.66	9.58	2.8	26.82	7.211842
21	Austria	6.06	3.07	−3	8.46	−25.38	4.285842
22	Taiwan	5.93	1.0	−4.13	23.6	1.00	3.979764
22	Finland	5.87	13.44	7.57	5.41	40.95	12.38678
23	Lithuania	5.83	5.67	−0.17	3.03	−0.52	2.946844
24	Slovenia	5.81	2.35	−3.47	2.07	−7.18	0.837263
25	Switzerland	5.79	1.3	−4.48	8	−35.84	1.7962
26	Bermuda	5.77	0.13	−5.64	0.06	−0.34	0.001352
27	South Korea	5.69	0.68	−5.01	49	−245.49	5.855888
28	Russia	5.69	6.79	1.1	143.17	157.49	170.8479
29	Cayman Islands	5.65	0.32	−5.33	0.06	−0.32	0.003398
30	Saudi Arabia	5.61	0.5	−5.12	28.29	−144.84	2.52139
31	New Zealand	5.6	10.14	4.54	4.46	20.25	8.075786
32	Ireland	5.57	3.73	−1.83	4.58	−8.38	3.067038
33	Kazakhstan	5.55	3.41	−2.14	16.27	−34.82	9.996523
34	Denmark	5.51	4.78	−0.73	5.6	−4.09	4.858076
35	Turkmenistan	5.47	2.79	−2.68	5.17	−13.86	2.636984
36	Antigua and Barbuda	5.38	0.94	−4.44	0.09	−0.40	0.015725
37	Germany	5.3	2.27	−3.02	82.8	−250.06	35.4634
38	Netherlands	5.28	1.17	−4.11	16.71	−68.68	3.702784
39	Czech Republic	5.19	2.46	−2.73	10.66	−29.10	5.052717
40	France	5.14	3.11	−2.04	63.98	−130.52	38.71163
41	Belarus	5.09	3.64	−1.45	9.4	−13.63	6.7222
42	Japan	5.02	0.72	−4.3	127.25	−547.18	18.251
43	Norway	4.98	8.18	3.19	4.99	15.92	8.196426
44	Saint Kitts and Nevis	4.94	0.62	−4.31	0.05	−0.22	0.006275
45	United Arab Emirates	4.94	1.32	−3.62	6.30	−22.82	1.683401
46	Bhutan	4.84	5.27	0.43	0.74	0.32	0.805744
47	French Polynesia	4.73	1.37	−3.36	0.27	−0.91	0.078203
48	Italy	4.61	1.08	−3.53	60.92	−215.05	14.27193
49	Barbados	4.48	0.19	−4.29	0.28	−1.20	0.011875
50	Poland	4.44	2.08	−2.36	38.21	−90.18	17.90018
51	Greece	4.38	1.61	−2.77	11.12	−30.80	4.087489
52	Chile	4.36	3.63	−0.73	17.46	−12.75	14.53665
53	Suriname	4.25	89.33	85.08	0.54	45.94	11.35016
54	Cyprus	4.21	0.34	−3.87	1.13	−4.37	0.091259
55	Paraguay	4.16	10.52	6.36	6.69	42.55	16.91798
56	Brunei	4.06	2.87	−1.19	0.41	−0.49	0.289828
57	Slovakia	4.06	2.71	−1.35	5.45	−7.36	3.637808
58	Equatorial Guinea	3.97	4.4	0.44	0.74	0.33	0.820151
59	Croatia	3.92	2.8	−1.12	4.31	−4.83	3.078571
60	Portugal	3.88	1.51	−2.37	10.6	−25.12	4.125258
61	Lebanon	3.84	0.33	−3.51	4.65	−16.32	0.399609
62	Botswana	3.83	3.47	−0.35	2	−0.70	1.81201
63	Montenegro	3.78	3.24	−0.54	0.62	−0.33	0.531429
64	Malaysia	3.71	2.41	−1.3	29.24	−38.01	18.99418
65	Libya	3.69	0.7	−3	6.16	−18.48	1.168564
66	Spain	3.67	1.25	−2.42	46.76	−113.16	15.92643
67	Réunion	3.65	0.18	−3.47	0.86	−2.98	0.042411
68	New Caledonia	3.58	7.67	4.09	0.25	1.02	0.535615
69	Venezuela	3.57	2.78	−0.79	29.96	−23.67	23.3302
70	Mauritius	3.46	0.71	−2.75	1.24	−3.41	0.254451
71	China	3.38	0.94	−2.44	1402	−3435.62	391.5851
72	Turkey	3.33	1.52	−1.81	74	−133.94	33.77778
73	Bulgaria	3.32	2.86	−0.46	7.28	−3.35	6.271325
74	South Africa	3.31	1.15	−2.16	52.39	−113.16	18.20196
75	North Macedonia	3.26	1.51	−1.75	2.11	−3.69	0.977331
76	Guadeloupe	3.23	0.45	−2.77	0.46	−1.27	0.064087
77	Argentina	3.14	6.92	3.78	41.09	155.32	90.55503
78	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3.12	1.63	−1.49	3.83	−5.71	2.000929
79	Brazil	3.11	9.08	5.97	198.66	1186.00	580.0105
80	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	3.11	1.26	−1.85	0.11	−0.20	0.044566
81	Guyana	3.07	66.58	63.51	0.8	50.81	17.34984
82	Grenada	2.98	1.96	−1.01	0.1	−0.10	0.065772
83	Bolivia	2.96	16.73	13.77	10.5	144.59	59.34628
84	Nauru	2.94	0.19	−2.76	0.01	−0.03	0.000646
85	Hungary	2.92	2.17	−0.75	9.98	−7.49	7.416644
86	Uruguay	2.91	10.32	7.41	3.4	25.19	12.05773
87	Fiji	2.9	2.37	−0.52	0.88	−0.46	0.719172
88	Mexico	2.89	1.27	−1.62	120.85	−195.78	53.10709
89	British Virgin Islands	2.86	2.05	−0.81	0.03	−0.02	0.021503
90	Costa Rica	2.84	1.53	−1.31	4.8	−6.29	2.585915
91	Ukraine	2.84	2.27	−0.58	45.53	−26.41	36.39194
92	Iran	2.79	0.9	−1.89	76.42	−144.43	24.65161
93	Panama	2.79	2.94	0.15	3.8	0.57	4.004301
94	Samoa	2.77	1.93	−0.85	0.19	−0.16	0.132383
95	Romania	2.71	2.32	−0.39	21.76	−8.49	18.62849
96	Serbia	2.7	1.25	−1.44	9.55	−13.75	4.421296
97	Tonga	2.7	1.48	−1.22	0.1	−0.12	0.054815
98	Thailand	2.66	1.24	−1.42	66.78	−94.83	31.13053
99	Dominica	2.57	1.03	−1.54	0.07	−0.11	0.028054
100	Mauritania	2.54	4.48	1.93	3.8	7.33	6.702362
101	Cape Verde	2.52	0.62	−1.9	0.49	−0.93	0.120556
102	Namibia	2.48	6.88	4.4	2.26	9.94	6.269677
103	Saint Lucia	2.45	0.34	−2.1	0.18	−0.38	0.02498
104	French Guiana	2.34	111.35	109.01	0.24	26.16	11.42051
105	Tunisia	2.34	0.93	−1.4	10.88	−15.23	4.324103
106	Uzbekistan	2.32	0.92	−1.4	28.54	−39.96	11.31759
107	Azerbaijan	2.31	0.85	−1.46	9.31	−13.59	3.425758
108	Peru	2.28	3.97	1.69	29.99	50.68	52.21943
109	Armenia	2.23	0.89	−1.35	2.97	−4.01	1.185336
110	Albania	2.21	1.18	−1.03	3.16	−3.25	1.68724
111	Djibouti	2.19	0.77	−1.42	0.86	−1.22	0.302374
112	Ecuador	2.17	2.2	0.03	15.49	0.46	15.70415
113	Egypt	2.15	0.56	−1.59	80.72	−128.34	21.02474
114	Algeria	2.12	0.59	−1.53	38.48	−58.87	10.70906
115	Jordan	2.1	0.21	−1.89	7.01	−13.25	0.701
116	Martinique	2.08	0.39	−1.7	0.4	−0.68	0.075
117	El Salvador	2.07	0.61	−1.46	6.3	−9.20	1.856522
118	Wallis and Futuna	2.07	1.51	−0.56	0.01	−0.01	0.007295
119	Gabon	2.02	26.31	24.29	1.63	39.59	21.23035
120	Swaziland	2.01	0.88	−1.14	1.23	−1.40	0.538507
121	Ghana	1.97	1.35	−0.62	25.37	−15.73	17.38553
122	Cuba	1.95	0.76	−1.19	11.27	−13.41	4.39241
123	Kyrgyzstan	1.91	1.3	−0.61	5.47	−3.34	3.723037
124	Papua New Guinea	1.91	3.92	2.01	7.17	14.41	14.71539
125	Guatemala	1.89	0.99	−0.9	15.08	−13.57	7.899048
126	Jamaica	1.89	0.43	−1.46	2.77	−4.04	0.630212
127	Iraq	1.88	0.29	−1.59	32.78	−52.12	5.056489
128	Colombia	1.87	3.6	1.72	47.7	82.04	91.82888
129	Moldova	1.78	0.8	−0.98	3.51	−3.44	1.577528
130	Honduras	1.68	1.77	0.09	7.94	0.71	8.365357
131	Morocco	1.68	0.71	−0.96	32.52	−31.22	13.74357
132	Lesotho	1.66	0.78	−0.87	2.05	−1.78	0.963253
133	Vietnam	1.65	1	−0.65	90.8	−59.02	55.0303
134	Georgia	1.58	1.17	−0.41	4.36	−1.79	3.228608
135	Indonesia	1.58	1.26	−0.32	246.86	−79.00	196.863
136	Niger	1.56	1.24	−0.32	17.16	−5.49	13.64
137	Dominican Republic	1.53	0.56	−0.97	10.28	−9.97	3.762614
138	Guinea-Bissau	1.53	3.03	1.49	1.66	2.47	3.287451
139	Mali	1.53	1.58	0.05	14.85	0.74	15.33529
140	Syria	1.51	0.6	−0.91	21.89	−19.92	8.698013
141	Sao Tome and Principe	1.49	0.87	−0.61	0.19	−0.12	0.11094
142	Chad	1.46	2.03	0.57	12.45	7.10	17.31062
143	Myanmar	1.43	1.84	0.41	52.8	21.65	67.93846
144	Benin	1.41	0.88	−0.53	10.05	−5.33	6.27234
145	Guinea	1.41	2.09	0.68	11.45	7.79	16.97199
146	Nicaragua	1.39	2.25	0.87	5.99	5.21	9.696043
147	Zimbabwe	1.37	0.62	−0.75	13.72	−10.29	6.209051
148	Sri Lanka	1.32	0.44	−0.88	21.1	−18.57	7.033333
149	Tanzania	1.32	1.08	−0.24	47.78	−11.47	39.09273
150	Congo	1.29	10.91	9.63	4.34	41.97	36.70496
151	Solomon Islands	1.29	4.36	3.08	0.55	1.69	1.858915
152	Côte d'Ivoire	1.27	1.78	0.51	19.84	10.12	27.80724
153	Central African Republic	1.24	7.87	6.62	4.53	29.99	28.75089
154	Sierra Leone	1.24	1.24	0	5.98	0.00	5.98
155	Somalia	1.24	1.27	0.03	10.2	0.31	10.44677
156	Uganda	1.24	0.59	−0.66	36.35	−23.99	17.29556
157	Laos	1.22	1.62	0.4	6.65	2.66	8.830328
158	Burkina Faso	1.21	0.98	−0.22	16.46	−3.62	13.33124
159	Cambodia	1.21	1.09	−0.11	14.86	−1.63	13.38628
160	Liberia	1.21	2.57	1.35	4.19	5.66	8.899421
161	Senegal	1.21	1.05	−0.16	13.73	−2.20	11.91446
162	Cameroon	1.17	1.69	0.52	21.7	11.28	31.34444
163	North Korea	1.17	0.6	−0.57	24.76	−14.11	12.69744
164	India	1.16	0.45	−0.71	1380	−878.05	479.7504
165	Nigeria	1.16	0.7	−0.47	168.83	−79.35	101.8802
166	Togo	1.13	0.53	−0.6	6.64	−3.98	3.114336
167	Philippines	1.1	0.54	−0.56	96.71	−54.16	47.47582
168	Comoros	1.03	0.32	−0.7	0.72	−0.50	0.223689
169	Gambia	1.03	0.82	−0.21	1.79	−0.38	1.425049
170	Kenya	1.03	0.51	−0.52	43.18	−22.45	21.38039
171	Yemen	1.03	0.5	−0.53	23.85	−12.64	11.57767
172	Ethiopia	1.02	0.58	−0.44	91.73	−40.36	52.1602
173	Madagascar	0.99	2.63	1.64	22.29	36.56	59.21485
174	Zambia	0.99	2.23	1.24	14.08	17.46	31.71556
175	Nepal	0.98	0.59	−0.38	27.47	−10.44	16.53806
176	Angola	0.93	2.55	1.61	20.82	35.52	57.0871
177	Tajikistan	0.91	0.53	−0.38	8.01	−3.04	4.665165
178	Mozambique	0.87	2.06	1.19	25.2	29.99	59.66897
179	Rwanda	0.87	0.54	−0.32	11.46	−3.67	7.113103
180	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	0.82	3.07	2.25	65.7	147.83	245.9744
181	Malawi	0.81	0.66	−0.15	15.91	−2.39	12.9637
182	Burundi	0.8	0.32	−0.48	9.85	−4.73	3.94
183	Afghanistan	0.79	0.5	−0.3	29.82	−8.95	18.87342
184	Pakistan	0.79	0.35	−0.44	179.16	−78.83	79.37468
185	Bangladesh	0.72	0.38	−0.35	154.7	−54.15	81.64722
186	Haiti	0.61	0.27	−0.34	10.17	−3.46	4.501475
187	Timor-Leste	0.48	1.78	1.3	1.11	1.44	4.11625
188	Eritrea	0.49	1.3	0.88	6.13	5.39	16.26327

*Assumes that biocapacity and ecological footprint per person will not change when population changes.

See also

• List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita
• Sustainable development
• List of countries by inequality-adjusted Human Development Index
• Peak water, water resources and water withdrawal

References

"National Footprint Accounts 2016, Open Data Platform". Global Footprint Network. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.

This page was last edited on 15 September 2023, at 20:26