The personal Footprint calculator developed by the Global Footprint Network is based on National Footprint Accounts data for selected nations. The national per person Footprint can be allocated to different end-use categories (food, shelter, mobility, goods and services), and land types (forest, cropland, energy, fish, grazing land). This results in a matrix that uses a country’s average consumption profile to distribute Ecological Footprint into these different categories.

The personal calculator asks questions that increase or decrease different parts of this matrix relative to national average behaviour. For example, if a person indicates that they eat twice as much beef as the national average, their “beef” Footprint will double, which will be reflected in the re-calculated overall Footprint score. Likewise, someone who indicates they eat very little beef will receive a fraction of the national average beef Footprint, which will be reflected in a smaller overall Footprint.

The Calculator is currently available in Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. To create country-specific calculators, Global Footprint Network works with local partners to gather regional data on resource consumption.