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Ecological footprint by country

How much land and sea does a country's consumption require per person?

Of the 126 countries compared in 2025, Yemen had the lowest reading, 0.5138, and Qatar had the highest reading, 11.7321. In the middle country the figure was 2.2963. Among the 101 countries measured in every edition since 1961, the middle one moved from 1.5438 to 2.2867.

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Part ofEnvironment & Sustainability

Ecological footprint · 2025

Key statistic · Environment & Sustainability

Lowest of 126Yemen

0.5138

012025 · position · derived

Who leads

The three countries at the lowest end of 126 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.

  1. 1

    Yemen

    Western Asia

    0.5138

    Photo: Jialiang Gao www.peace-on-earth.org derivative work: JamesA · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

  2. 2

    Mozambique

    Eastern Africa

    0.5879

    Photo: Stig Nygaard derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY 2.0, greyscale

  3. 3

    Burundi

    Eastern Africa

    0.6176

    Photo: Tequendamia · CC0, greyscale

Highest in 2025

  1. Qatar11.7321
  2. Luxembourg10.1193
  3. Mongolia7.5270

Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.

Lowest on each continent

02Every measured country

Ecological footprint on a map

Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.

All regions

Darker is a lower value — the better end.

  • 4.3360–11.7321
  • 2.7174–4.2607
  • 1.7476–2.6685
  • 1.0330–1.7019
  • 0.5138–1.0270
  • No reading in 2025
  • Africa

    1.0815

    the middle country, of 38 measured · 55 members

    Mozambique0.5879

    Mauritius3.9579

    Lowest and highest reading in Africa.

  • Asia

    1.8385

    the middle country, of 34 measured · 52 members

    Yemen0.5138

    Qatar11.7321

    Lowest and highest reading in Asia.

  • Americas

    2.5743

    the middle country, of 21 measured · 48 members

    Haiti0.6236

    United States7.0529

    Lowest and highest reading in Americas.

  • Europe

    4.4284

    the middle country, of 30 measured · 49 members

    Albania2.4017

    Luxembourg10.1193

    Lowest and highest reading in Europe.

  • Oceania

    3 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Samoa, Tonga.

    Samoa2.2867

    Tonga3.7594

    Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.

20 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
  • Eastern Africa

    0.8454

    the middle country, of 14 measured · 19 members

    Mozambique0.5879

    Mauritius3.9579

    Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.

  • Southern Asia

    0.9059

    the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members

    Pakistan0.7224

    Bhutan4.7711

    Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.

  • Middle Africa

    0.9985

    the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members

    DR Congo0.6469

    Central African Republic1.8942

    Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.

  • Western Africa

    1.1425

    the middle country, of 12 measured · 16 members

    Nigeria0.7389

    Ghana1.9009

    Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.

  • South-eastern Asia

    1.5841

    the middle country, of 9 measured · 11 members

    Timor-Leste0.8934

    Malaysia4.1112

    Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.

  • Western Asia

    2.1639

    the middle country, of 11 measured · 19 members

    Yemen0.5138

    Qatar11.7321

    Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.

  • South America

    2.4090

    the middle country, of 8 measured · 12 members

    Colombia1.8468

    Chile3.7582

    Lowest and highest reading in South America.

  • Caribbean

    2.5098

    the middle country, of 8 measured · 24 members

    Haiti0.6236

    Antigua and Barbuda4.7233

    Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.

  • Eastern Europe

    4.2282

    the middle country, of 6 measured · 10 members

    Romania3.0499

    Russia5.3926

    Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.

  • Southern Europe

    4.2479

    the middle country, of 11 measured · 17 members

    Albania2.4017

    Malta5.6589

    Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.

  • Western Europe

    4.6332

    the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members

    Germany3.7778

    Luxembourg10.1193

    Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.

  • Northern Europe

    5.7116

    the middle country, of 7 measured · 13 members

    United Kingdom3.4088

    Estonia6.6685

    Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.

  • Central America

    3 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico.

    El Salvador2.1542

    Mexico2.6464

    Lowest and highest reading in Central America.

  • Central Asia

    3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.

    Tajikistan1.0330

    Turkmenistan4.2341

    Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.

  • Eastern Asia

    4 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea.

    China3.7571

    Mongolia7.5270

    Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.

  • Melanesia

    1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji.

    Fiji3.1218

    Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.

  • Northern Africa

    3 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Egypt, Sudan, Tunisia.

    Sudan1.2688

    Tunisia1.6287

    Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.

  • Northern America

    2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.

    Canada6.6221

    United States7.0529

    Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.

  • Polynesia

    2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa, Tonga.

    Samoa2.2867

    Tonga3.7594

    Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.

  • Southern Africa

    3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Botswana, Eswatini, South Africa.

    Eswatini1.8217

    South Africa2.5595

    Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.

03The whole field at once

The spread

126 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 2.2963; a quarter are above 4.0155, and a quarter below 1.1094. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.

246810Africa38 comparedMauritius: 3.9579South Africa: 2.5595Botswana: 2.1523Ghana: 1.9009Central African Republic: 1.8942Eswatini: 1.8217Guinea: 1.7476Tunisia: 1.6287Senegal: 1.4952Liberia: 1.4532Egypt: 1.3618Sudan: 1.2688Zimbabwe: 1.2418Niger: 1.1747Chad: 1.1697Côte d’Ivoire: 1.1496Burkina Faso: 1.1353Zambia: 1.1087Mali: 1.0970Togo: 1.0659Uganda: 1.0640Benin: 1.0419Cameroon: 1.0270Kenya: 0.9927Sierra Leone: 0.9712Republic of the Congo: 0.9699Tanzania: 0.9674Ethiopia: 0.8767Rwanda: 0.8141Somalia: 0.8029Malawi: 0.7815Nigeria: 0.7389Eritrea: 0.7136Angola: 0.7071Madagascar: 0.6728DR Congo: 0.6469Burundi: 0.6176Mozambique: 0.5879Mozambique 0.5879 · Mauritius 3.9579Americas21 comparedUnited States: 7.0529Canada: 6.6221Antigua and Barbuda: 4.7233Barbados: 4.4873Chile: 3.7582Grenada: 3.6848Saint Lucia: 2.7174Argentina: 2.6685Mexico: 2.6464Costa Rica: 2.6154Bolivia: 2.5743Brazil: 2.4435Paraguay: 2.3745Peru: 2.3188Dominican Republic: 2.3022El Salvador: 2.1542Jamaica: 1.9484Venezuela: 1.9252Colombia: 1.8468Cuba: 1.7019Haiti: 0.6236Haiti 0.6236United States 7.0529Asia34 comparedQatar: 11.7321Mongolia: 7.5270South Korea: 5.1058Oman: 4.9449Bhutan: 4.7711Turkmenistan: 4.2341Malaysia: 4.1112Cyprus: 3.9975Israel: 3.9830Japan: 3.9358China: 3.7571Türkiye: 3.1817Thailand: 2.4618Vietnam: 2.2975Uzbekistan: 2.2951Lebanon: 2.1639Iraq: 2.0177Indonesia: 1.6593Cambodia: 1.5841Jordan: 1.3750Philippines: 1.3703Sri Lanka: 1.2716India: 1.1303Palestine: 1.1116Myanmar: 1.1001Tajikistan: 1.0330Laos: 0.9397Bangladesh: 0.9059Timor-Leste: 0.8934Nepal: 0.8869Syria: 0.8001Afghanistan: 0.7729Pakistan: 0.7224Yemen: 0.5138Yemen 0.5138Qatar 11.7321Europe30 comparedLuxembourg: 10.1193Estonia: 6.6685Latvia: 6.5188Denmark: 6.4451Lithuania: 5.7116Malta: 5.6589Slovenia: 5.3933Russia: 5.3926Austria: 5.3775Czechia: 5.0547Sweden: 5.0458Montenegro: 4.9270Belgium: 4.8160Croatia: 4.7568France: 4.4505Norway: 4.4063Poland: 4.3360Portugal: 4.2607Serbia: 4.2479Belarus: 4.1204Slovakia: 4.0214Italy: 3.9699Switzerland: 3.8685Germany: 3.7778Greece: 3.5576United Kingdom: 3.4088North Macedonia: 3.3899Spain: 3.1761Romania: 3.0499Albania: 2.4017Albania 2.4017Luxembourg 10.1193Oceania3 comparedTonga: 3.7594Fiji: 3.1218Samoa: 2.2867Samoa 2.2867 · Tonga 3.7594middle country 2.2963

04All 126 ever measured

Every country

In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way Global Footprint Network’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. Global Footprint Network ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Read a high figure as demand on nature rather than as wealth or waste, and remember it counts consumption wherever it happens — imports included.

The raw table

Showing 25 of 126 countries

  1. 1 of 126QatarWestern Asia11.7321
  2. 2 of 126LuxembourgWestern Europe10.1193
  3. 3 of 126MongoliaEastern Asia7.5270
  4. 4 of 126United StatesNorthern America7.0529
  5. 5 of 126EstoniaNorthern Europe6.6685
  6. 6 of 126CanadaNorthern America6.6221
  7. 7 of 126LatviaNorthern Europe6.5188
  8. 8 of 126DenmarkNorthern Europe6.4451
  9. 9 of 126LithuaniaNorthern Europe5.7116
  10. 10 of 126MaltaSouthern Europe5.6589
  11. 11 of 126SloveniaSouthern Europe5.3933
  12. 12 of 126RussiaEastern Europe5.3926
  13. 13 of 126AustriaWestern Europe5.3775
  14. 14 of 126South KoreaEastern Asia5.1058
  15. 15 of 126CzechiaEastern Europe5.0547
  16. 16 of 126SwedenNorthern Europe5.0458
  17. 17 of 126OmanWestern Asia4.9449
  18. 18 of 126MontenegroSouthern Europe4.9270
  19. 19 of 126BelgiumWestern Europe4.8160
  20. 20 of 126BhutanSouthern Asia4.7711
  21. 21 of 126CroatiaSouthern Europe4.7568
  22. 22 of 126Antigua and BarbudaCaribbean4.7233
  23. 23 of 126BarbadosCaribbean4.4873
  24. 24 of 126FranceWestern Europe4.4505
  25. 25 of 126NorwayNorthern Europe4.4063

Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.

051961–2025 · 65 editions

Over time

Each point is one year from 1961. The last two, 2024 and 2025, are Global Footprint Network nowcasts rather than accounted years: the headline figure is published but every land-type component behind it is empty.

12345196119701979198819972006201520242025EuropeAmericasAsiaAfrica
  • the middle country
  • the middle half of countries
  • the middle of the 101 countries measured every time
  • each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
YearCountriesMiddle countryMiddle halfMeasured every time
20251262.29631.1094 – 4.01552.2867
20241262.31391.1324 – 4.03522.2997
20231262.31741.1541 – 4.10252.2699
20221262.27241.1850 – 4.25652.2138
20211262.33701.1526 – 4.14262.2631
20201262.30571.1887 – 3.94062.0902
20191262.25781.2574 – 4.26342.1952
20181262.24851.2451 – 4.29882.1480
20171262.22091.2275 – 4.34182.1411
20161262.23081.2162 – 4.14682.1322
20151262.30001.2595 – 4.10602.0600
20141262.38141.2754 – 4.20842.0949
20131262.33631.2774 – 4.21892.2691
20121262.42001.2038 – 4.35802.2439
20111252.47941.2042 – 4.51692.1019
20101252.36791.2122 – 4.39372.0236
20091252.22241.1493 – 4.21971.8986
20081252.17271.1779 – 4.71261.9995
20071252.20361.1795 – 4.81622.0618
20061252.12031.1571 – 4.44612.0078
20051232.15121.1538 – 4.59292.0304
20041232.10551.1072 – 4.35571.9980
20031222.04491.1200 – 4.11871.9264
20021222.11951.1160 – 4.05841.8717
20011222.20041.1512 – 4.11571.8873
20001221.94991.1428 – 4.13251.8591
19991221.92191.1371 – 4.33371.8212
19981221.97641.1485 – 3.90121.7944
19971222.07391.1400 – 4.09071.8747
19961222.05661.1809 – 4.14271.9899
19951222.07701.0877 – 4.02171.9399
19941222.08201.0859 – 3.89101.9295
19931222.00361.1011 – 3.55221.8183
19921181.86041.1455 – 3.65761.7412
19911071.63811.0666 – 3.57921.6869
19901071.74031.0637 – 3.50321.7806
19891071.72871.0794 – 3.40371.7759
19881071.78871.1172 – 3.58141.8006
19871071.72591.1008 – 3.45251.7763
19861071.67311.1298 – 3.35451.7429
19851071.67131.1162 – 3.33241.6869
19841071.71911.1255 – 3.23431.7457
19831071.67921.1031 – 3.03631.6802
19821071.68751.1042 – 3.00641.6930
19811071.72621.1465 – 2.97421.7520
19801071.58381.1487 – 2.95881.6493
19791071.67361.1659 – 3.21571.7101
19781071.64951.1898 – 3.08291.6610
19771071.67791.2050 – 3.25281.6834
19761071.69561.1537 – 2.99261.6988
19751071.69931.1339 – 3.15931.7034
19741071.71241.1349 – 2.99591.7172
19731071.66221.1244 – 2.84561.7108
19721071.64911.1172 – 2.87381.6674
19711071.70631.1146 – 2.95921.7063
19701061.70011.1072 – 2.85691.7040
19691061.65131.0889 – 2.91381.6506
19681061.56511.0712 – 2.78981.5523
19671051.58261.0819 – 2.66931.5772
19661051.55581.0256 – 2.59111.5558
19651041.52361.0043 – 2.44811.5011
19641041.56501.0180 – 2.40391.5633
19631011.58001.0078 – 2.42061.5800
19621011.50750.9976 – 2.45771.5075
19611011.54381.0038 – 2.43621.5438

062024 → 2025

Who rose and fell

The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.

Improved most

before → after
  1. Qatar11.9936 → 11.7321 · 1st → 1st−0.2615
  2. Turkmenistan4.4486 → 4.2341 · 26th → 29th−0.2145
  3. Luxembourg10.3274 → 10.1193 · 2nd → 2nd−0.2081
  4. Oman5.1432 → 4.9449 · 14th → 17th−0.1983
  5. Mongolia7.6142 → 7.5270 · 3rd → 3rd−0.0872

Worsened most

before → after
  1. North Macedonia3.1585 → 3.3899 · 47th → 46th+0.2313
  2. Estonia6.5633 → 6.6685 · 6th → 5th+0.1052
  3. Lithuania5.6435 → 5.7116 · 10th → 9th+0.0681
  4. Montenegro4.8667 → 4.9270 · 18th → 18th+0.0603
  5. Latvia6.4721 → 6.5188 · 8th → 7th+0.0468

126 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.

07Across every edition

Ecological footprint in records

The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.

08The measure

About ecological footprint

The Ecological Footprint measures how much biologically productive land and sea a country’s consumption demands, per person, in global hectares. A higher figure means a heavier draw on nature — not a richer country, though in practice the two track closely.

What the number is: Ecological Footprint (global hectares per person).

What it does not measure

It measures the demand consumption places on nature, not how well a country manages its environment: a poor country consumes little and scores well without any environmental policy at all.

09Where it fits

Connections

Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.

All statistics

In the Country Index

A key statistic for Environment & Sustainability

“How much of the planet's biological capacity a country's own consumption uses up.”

Edition used
2025 (data 2025)
Countries
126
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

Environment & Sustainability standingsHow the keys combine

Moves with

Where ecological footprint is higher, these tend to be higher too.

Moves against

Where ecological footprint is higher, these tend to be lower.

Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 326 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.

On the same subject

10Keep reading

Explore further

11Questions

Ecological footprint: questions and answers

Which country has the lowest ecological footprint?

Yemen, at 0.5138, among the 126 countries compared in 2025.

Which country has the highest ecological footprint?

Qatar, at 11.7321, among the 126 countries compared in 2025.

How many countries does the Ecological Footprint cover?

126 in 2025. The number measured varies from 101 to 126 between editions.

What is the world average ecological footprint?

This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 126 compared in 2025, the figure was 2.2963.

Is this Global Footprint Network’s own ranking?

No. Global Footprint Network publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.

How often is the Ecological Footprint published?

This site holds 65 editions, describing 1961 to 2025.

Where does the data come from, and can I download it?

From Global Footprint Network, under CC BY-SA 4.0. From the Global Footprint Network’s own data platform. Four dissolved states in the source are not imported because every row here keys to a present-day country, which is why Ethiopia’s series starts in 1993 and Sudan’s in 2012. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.

12Method

Sources, method and citation

Source

Ecological Footprint — Global Footprint Network

From the Global Footprint Network’s own data platform. Four dissolved states in the source are not imported because every row here keys to a present-day country, which is why Ethiopia’s series starts in 1993 and Sudan’s in 2012.

Newest edition

Report year 2025Data year 2025

Cite the source as: Global Footprint Network. National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. Oakland, CA: Global Footprint Network.

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0, checked 2026-09-05.

The full 2025 table, row for row

How this page reads the numbers

  • Global Footprint Network ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
  • Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
  • A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
  • Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.

The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.

Photographs

The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Ecological footprint by country: Ecological Footprint, data from Global Footprint Network. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/ecological-footprint

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