Which Economies Have the Largest Ecological Footprints?
How much biologically productive land and water are required to support a population’s resource use and absorb its waste—and how does this footprint vary around the world?
In collaboration with the Hinrich Foundation, this visualization draws on data from the Global Footprint Network to compare ecological footprints across countries, highlighting the varying environmental pressures of consumption.
The analysis comes from the 2025 Sustainable Trade Index (STI), which the Hinrich Foundation produced in collaboration with the IMD World Competitiveness Center.
What Is an Ecological Footprint?
The ecological footprint is a metric that quantifies human demand on nature. It calculates the biologically productive land and water area required to supply the renewable resources a given population consumes (such as food, timber, and energy). It also factors in the land needed to assimilate the waste it produces, particularly carbon dioxide.
The metric provides insight into whether a country’s consumption levels are environmentally sustainable. The higher the ecological footprint a country has, the less sustainable its consumption is given its available resources.
Which Countries’ Consumption Leave the Highest Footprints?
It’s no surprise that developed countries typically have larger ecological footprints than emerging markets. With higher levels of consumption—whether energy, goods, or resources—these nations also generate more waste on a per-person basis.
The country with the highest footprint (which translates into a lower ranking) is Singapore, at 10.1 global hectares per person. It’s followed by Canada (8.1), the U.S. (7.5), Australia (7.3), and Russia (6.2).
| From Smallest to Largest Ecological Footprints | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Country | Ecological Footprint (global hectares) |
| 1 |  Bangladesh |
0.68 |
| 2 |  Pakistan |
0.73 |
| 3 |  Myanmar |
1.11 |
| 4 |  India |
1.11 |
| 5 |  Laos |
1.12 |
| 6 |  Papua New Guinea |
1.17 |
| 7 |  Sri Lanka |
1.20 |
| 8 |  Philippines |
1.40 |
| 9 |  Cambodia |
1.64 |
| 10 |  Ecuador |
1.71 |
| 11 |  Indonesia |
1.86 |
| 12 |  Peru |
2.41 |
| 13 |  Thailand |
2.46 |
| 14 |  Mexico |
2.55 |
| 15 |  Vietnam |
2.70 |
| 16 |  China |
3.68 |
| 17 |  United Kingdom |
3.81 |
| 18 |  Japan |
4.04 |
| 19 |  Malaysia |
4.23 |
| 20 |  Chile |
4.27 |
| 21 |  New Zealand |
5.43 |
| 22 |  South Korea |
5.47 |
| 23 |  Russia |
6.21 |
| 24 |  Australia |
7.28 |
| 25 |  United States |
7.48 |
| 26 |  Canada |
8.11 |
| 27 |  Singapore |
10.07 |
Among developed markets, the UK ranks most favorably at #17, with an ecological footprint of 3.8 global hectares per person.
Which Countries’ Consumption the Lowest Footprints?
In contrast, emerging economies typically have less resource-intensive lifestyles. As a result, Bangladesh ranks #1 at 0.7 global hectares per person. Pakistan (0.7) and Myanmar (1.1) round out the top three.
Explore the Sustainable Trade Index
This infographic was just a small subset of what the Sustainable Trade Index has to offer. To learn more, visit the Hinrich Foundation, where you can download additional resources including the entire report for free.
Visit the Hinrich Foundation to download the entire report, for free.
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