Provincial Per Capita Ecological Footprint Dataset of China, 2000–2020

The ecological footprint (EF) was selected, which measures the biologically productive area needed to sustain resource use and waste absorption by humans. The EF is particularly advantageous because it provides a clear, quantifiable metric that integrates various aspects of human consumption—such as energy use, land use, and carbon emissions—into a single measure . Moreover, it enables cross-regional and temporal comparisons, making it an effective tool for assessing environmental sustainability and identifying areas where human activities exceed ecological limits. Especially since the 21st century, the EF has been widely used in global and regional environmental sustainability. Following previous research (Hong et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2024), we calculate the land-based EF in national hectares.本研究选取生态足迹（ecological footprint, EF）作为评估指标，该指标用于衡量人类维持资源消耗与废弃物吸纳所需的生物生产性土地面积。生态足迹的显著优势在于，可将能源消耗、土地利用、碳排放等人类消费的多维度内容整合为单一清晰的可量化指标。此外，该指标支持跨区域与跨时间维度的对比，成为评估环境可持续性、识别人类活动超出生态极限区域的有效工具。自21世纪以来，生态足迹已被广泛应用于全球及区域层面的环境可持续性研究中。遵循已有研究（Hong等，2020；Zhang等，2024）的方法，本研究以国家公顷为单位核算土地型生态足迹。