List of countries by ecological footprint

National ecological surplus or deficit, measured as a country's biocapacity per person (in global hectares) minus its ecological footprint per person (also in global hectares). Data from 2013.^[1]

x ≤ -9   -9 < x ≤ -8   -8 < x ≤ -7   -7 < x ≤ -6   -6 < x ≤ -5

-5 < x ≤ -4   -4 < x ≤ -3   -3 < x ≤ -2   -2 < x ≤ -1   -1 < x < 0

0 ≤ x < 2   2 ≤ x < 4   4 ≤ x < 6   6 ≤ x < 8   8 ≤ x   Data unavailable

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 2012 was 2.84 global hectares per person (22.1 billion in total). With a world-average biocapacity of 1.73 global hectares (gha) per person (9.2 billion in total), this leads to a global ecological deficit of 1.1 global hectares per person (7.8 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, on average, than 1.73 gha per person has a resource demand that is not replicable world-wide. Vice versa, with a footprint below 1.73 gha per person, is not necessarily sustainable, because the quality of the footprint may still lead to 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]

Countries

This table below is based on 2012 results (National Footprint Accounts edition 2016). The latest edition (2018) 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	Ecological Footprint (gha/person)	Biocapacity (gha/person)	Biocapacity deficit or reserve (gha/person)	Population (millions of people)	Total Biocapacity (gMha)
1	Luxembourg	15.82	1.68	-14.14	0.52	-7.35
2	Aruba	11.88	0.57	-11.31	0.1	-1.13
3	Qatar	10.8	1.24	-9.56	2.05	-19.60
4	Australia	9.31	16.57	7.26	23.05	167.34
5	United States	8.22	3.76	-4.46	317.5	-1416.05
6	Canada	8.17	16.01	7.83	34.84	272.80
7	Kuwait	8.13	0.55	-7.58	3.25	-24.64
8	Singapore	7.97	0.05	-7.92	5.3	-41.98
9	United Kingdom	7.93	0.56	-7.37	65.648	-483.83
10	Trinidad and Tobago	7.92	1.56	-6.36	1.34	-8.52
11	Montserrat	7.78	1.36	-6.42	0.005	-0.03
12	Oman	7.52	1.92	-5.6	3.31	-18.54
13	Bahrain	7.49	0.58	-6.91	1.32	-9.12
14	Belgium	7.44	1.19	-6.25	11.06	-69.13
15	Sweden	7.25	10.62	3.38	9.51	32.14
16	Estonia	6.86	10.53	3.67	1.29	4.73
17	Bahamas	6.84	9.55	2.71	0.37	1.00
18	Latvia	6.29	9.55	3.26	2.06	6.72
19	Israel	6.22	0.35	-5.87	7.64	-44.85
20	Mongolia	6.08	15.66	9.58	2.8	26.82
21	Austria	6.06	3.07	-3	8.46	-25.38
22	Taiwan	5.93	1.0	-4.13	23.6	1.00
22	Finland	5.87	13.44	7.57	5.41	40.95
23	Lithuania	5.83	5.67	-0.17	3.03	-0.52
24	Slovenia	5.81	2.35	-3.47	2.07	-7.18
25	Switzerland	5.79	1.3	-4.48	8	-35.84
26	Bermuda	5.77	0.13	-5.64	0.06	-0.34
27	South Korea	5.69	0.68	-5.01	49	-245.49
28	Russia	5.69	6.79	1.1	143.17	157.49
29	Cayman Islands	5.65	0.32	-5.33	0.06	-0.32
30	Saudi Arabia	5.61	0.5	-5.12	28.29	-144.84
31	New Zealand	5.6	10.14	4.54	4.46	20.25
32	Ireland	5.57	3.73	-1.83	4.58	-8.38
33	Kazakhstan	5.55	3.41	-2.14	16.27	-34.82
34	Denmark	5.51	4.78	-0.73	5.6	-4.09
35	Turkmenistan	5.47	2.79	-2.68	5.17	-13.86
36	Antigua and Barbuda	5.38	0.94	-4.44	0.09	-0.40
37	Germany	5.3	2.27	-3.02	82.8	-250.06
38	Netherlands	5.28	1.17	-4.11	16.71	-68.68
39	Czech Republic	5.19	2.46	-2.73	10.66	-29.10
40	France	5.14	3.11	-2.04	63.98	-130.52
41	Belarus	5.09	3.64	-1.45	9.4	-13.63
42	Japan	5.02	0.72	-4.3	127.25	-547.18
43	Norway	4.98	8.18	3.19	4.99	15.92
44	Saint Kitts and Nevis	4.94	0.62	-4.31	0.05	-0.22
45	United Arab Emirates	4.94	1.32	-3.62	6.30	-22.82
46	Bhutan	4.84	5.27	0.43	0.74	0.32
47	French Polynesia	4.73	1.37	-3.36	0.27	-0.91
48	Italy	4.61	1.08	-3.53	60.92	-215.05
49	Barbados	4.48	0.19	-4.29	0.28	-1.20
50	Poland	4.44	2.08	-2.36	38.21	-90.18
51	Greece	4.38	1.61	-2.77	11.12	-30.80
52	Chile	4.36	3.63	-0.73	17.46	-12.75
53	Suriname	4.25	89.33	85.08	0.54	45.94
54	Cyprus	4.21	0.34	-3.87	1.13	-4.37
55	Paraguay	4.16	10.52	6.36	6.69	42.55
56	Brunei	4.06	2.87	-1.19	0.41	-0.49
57	Slovakia	4.06	2.71	-1.35	5.45	-7.36
58	Equatorial Guinea	3.97	4.4	0.44	0.74	0.33
59	Croatia	3.92	2.8	-1.12	4.31	-4.83
60	Portugal	3.88	1.51	-2.37	10.6	-25.12
61	Lebanon	3.84	0.33	-3.51	4.65	-16.32
62	Botswana	3.83	3.47	-0.35	2	-0.70
63	Montenegro	3.78	3.24	-0.54	0.62	-0.33
64	Malaysia	3.71	2.41	-1.3	29.24	-38.01
65	Libya	3.69	0.7	-3	6.16	-18.48
66	Spain	3.67	1.25	-2.42	46.76	-113.16
67	Réunion	3.65	0.18	-3.47	0.86	-2.98
68	New Caledonia	3.58	7.67	4.09	0.25	1.02
69	Venezuela	3.57	2.78	-0.79	29.96	-23.67
70	Mauritius	3.46	0.71	-2.75	1.24	-3.41
71	China	3.38	0.94	-2.44	1408.04	-3435.62
72	Turkey	3.33	1.52	-1.81	74	-133.94
73	Bulgaria	3.32	2.86	-0.46	7.28	-3.35
74	South Africa	3.31	1.15	-2.16	52.39	-113.16
75	Macedonia	3.26	1.51	-1.75	2.11	-3.69
76	Guadeloupe	3.23	0.45	-2.77	0.46	-1.27
77	Argentina	3.14	6.92	3.78	41.09	155.32
78	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3.12	1.63	-1.49	3.83	-5.71
79	Brazil	3.11	9.08	5.97	198.66	1186.00
80	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	3.11	1.26	-1.85	0.11	-0.20
81	Guyana	3.07	66.58	63.51	0.8	50.81
82	Grenada	2.98	1.96	-1.01	0.1	-0.10
83	Bolivia	2.96	16.73	13.77	10.5	144.59
84	Nauru	2.94	0.19	-2.76	0.01	-0.03
85	Hungary	2.92	2.17	-0.75	9.98	-7.49
86	Uruguay	2.91	10.32	7.41	3.4	25.19
87	Fiji	2.9	2.37	-0.52	0.88	-0.46
88	Mexico	2.89	1.27	-1.62	120.85	-195.78
89	British Virgin Islands	2.86	2.05	-0.81	0.03	-0.02
90	Costa Rica	2.84	1.53	-1.31	4.8	-6.29
91	Ukraine	2.84	2.27	-0.58	45.53	-26.41
92	Iran	2.79	0.9	-1.89	76.42	-144.43
93	Panama	2.79	2.94	0.15	3.8	0.57
94	Samoa	2.77	1.93	-0.85	0.19	-0.16
95	Romania	2.71	2.32	-0.39	21.76	-8.49
96	Serbia	2.7	1.25	-1.44	9.55	-13.75
97	Tonga	2.7	1.48	-1.22	0.1	-0.12
98	Thailand	2.66	1.24	-1.42	66.78	-94.83
99	Dominica	2.57	1.03	-1.54	0.07	-0.11
100	Mauritania	2.54	4.48	1.93	3.8	7.33
101	Cape Verde	2.52	0.62	-1.9	0.49	-0.93
102	Namibia	2.48	6.88	4.4	2.26	9.94
103	Saint Lucia	2.45	0.34	-2.1	0.18	-0.38
104	French Guiana	2.34	111.35	109.01	0.24	26.16
105	Tunisia	2.34	0.93	-1.4	10.88	-15.23
106	Uzbekistan	2.32	0.92	-1.4	28.54	-39.96
107	Azerbaijan	2.31	0.85	-1.46	9.31	-13.59
108	Peru	2.28	3.97	1.69	29.99	50.68
109	Armenia	2.23	0.89	-1.35	2.97	-4.01
110	Albania	2.21	1.18	-1.03	3.16	-3.25
111	Djibouti	2.19	0.77	-1.42	0.86	-1.22
112	Ecuador	2.17	2.2	0.03	15.49	0.46
113	Egypt	2.15	0.56	-1.59	80.72	-128.34
114	Algeria	2.12	0.59	-1.53	38.48	-58.87
115	Jordan	2.1	0.21	-1.89	7.01	-13.25
116	Martinique	2.08	0.39	-1.7	0.4	-0.68
117	El Salvador	2.07	0.61	-1.46	6.3	-9.20
118	Wallis and Futuna	2.07	1.51	-0.56	0.01	-0.01
119	Gabon	2.02	26.31	24.29	1.63	39.59
120	Swaziland	2.01	0.88	-1.14	1.23	-1.40
121	Ghana	1.97	1.35	-0.62	25.37	-15.73
122	Cuba	1.95	0.76	-1.19	11.27	-13.41
123	Kyrgyzstan	1.91	1.3	-0.61	5.47	-3.34
124	Papua New Guinea	1.91	3.92	2.01	7.17	14.41
125	Guatemala	1.89	0.99	-0.9	15.08	-13.57
126	Jamaica	1.89	0.43	-1.46	2.77	-4.04
127	Iraq	1.88	0.29	-1.59	32.78	-52.12
128	Colombia	1.87	3.6	1.72	47.7	82.04
129	Moldova	1.78	0.8	-0.98	3.51	-3.44
130	Honduras	1.68	1.77	0.09	7.94	0.71
131	Morocco	1.68	0.71	-0.96	32.52	-31.22
132	Lesotho	1.66	0.78	-0.87	2.05	-1.78
133	Vietnam	1.65	1	-0.65	90.8	-59.02
134	Georgia	1.58	1.17	-0.41	4.36	-1.79
135	Indonesia	1.58	1.26	-0.32	246.86	-79.00
136	Niger	1.56	1.24	-0.32	17.16	-5.49
137	Dominican Republic	1.53	0.56	-0.97	10.28	-9.97
138	Guinea-Bissau	1.53	3.03	1.49	1.66	2.47
139	Mali	1.53	1.58	0.05	14.85	0.74
140	Syria	1.51	0.6	-0.91	21.89	-19.92
141	Sao Tome and Principe	1.49	0.87	-0.61	0.19	-0.12
142	Chad	1.46	2.03	0.57	12.45	7.10
143	Myanmar	1.43	1.84	0.41	52.8	21.65
144	Benin	1.41	0.88	-0.53	10.05	-5.33
145	Guinea	1.41	2.09	0.68	11.45	7.79
146	Nicaragua	1.39	2.25	0.87	5.99	5.21
147	Zimbabwe	1.37	0.62	-0.75	13.72	-10.29
148	Sri Lanka	1.32	0.44	-0.88	21.1	-18.57
149	Tanzania	1.32	1.08	-0.24	47.78	-11.47
150	Congo	1.29	10.91	9.63	4.34	41.97
151	Solomon Islands	1.29	4.36	3.08	0.55	1.69
152	Côte d'Ivoire	1.27	1.78	0.51	19.84	10.12
153	Central African Republic	1.24	7.87	6.62	4.53	29.99
154	Sierra Leone	1.24	1.24	0	5.98	0.00
155	Somalia	1.24	1.27	0.03	10.2	0.31
156	Uganda	1.24	0.59	-0.66	36.35	-23.99
157	Laos	1.22	1.62	0.4	6.65	2.66
158	Burkina Faso	1.21	0.98	-0.22	16.46	-3.62
159	Cambodia	1.21	1.09	-0.11	14.86	-1.63
160	Liberia	1.21	2.57	1.35	4.19	5.66
161	Senegal	1.21	1.05	-0.16	13.73	-2.20
162	Cameroon	1.17	1.69	0.52	21.7	11.28
163	North Korea	1.17	0.6	-0.57	24.76	-14.11
164	India	1.16	0.45	-0.71	1236.69	-878.05
165	Nigeria	1.16	0.7	-0.47	168.83	-79.35
166	Togo	1.13	0.53	-0.6	6.64	-3.98
167	Philippines	1.1	0.54	-0.56	96.71	-54.16
168	Comoros	1.03	0.32	-0.7	0.72	-0.50
169	Gambia	1.03	0.82	-0.21	1.79	-0.38
170	Kenya	1.03	0.51	-0.52	43.18	-22.45
171	Yemen	1.03	0.5	-0.53	23.85	-12.64
172	Ethiopia	1.02	0.58	-0.44	91.73	-40.36
173	Madagascar	0.99	2.63	1.64	22.29	36.56
174	Zambia	0.99	2.23	1.24	14.08	17.46
175	Nepal	0.98	0.59	-0.38	27.47	-10.44
176	Angola	0.93	2.55	1.61	20.82	35.52
177	Tajikistan	0.91	0.53	-0.38	8.01	-3.04
178	Mozambique	0.87	2.06	1.19	25.2	29.99
179	Rwanda	0.87	0.54	-0.32	11.46	-3.67
180	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	0.82	3.07	2.25	65.7	147.83
181	Malawi	0.81	0.66	-0.15	15.91	-2.39
182	Burundi	0.8	0.32	-0.48	9.85	-4.73
183	Afghanistan	0.79	0.5	-0.3	29.82	-8.95
184	Pakistan	0.79	0.35	-0.44	179.16	-78.83
185	Bangladesh	0.72	0.38	-0.35	154.7	-54.15
186	Haiti	0.61	0.27	-0.34	10.17	-3.46
187	Timor-Leste	0.48	1.78	1.3	1.11	1.44
188	Eritrea	0.49	1.3	0.88	6.13	5.39

See also

World map of countries by their raw ecological footprint compared against the global average biocapacity of 2.1 gha per person in 2007.

• List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita
• Sustainable development
• List of countries by inequality-adjusted HDI

References

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