Greedy Nations: Top (and Bottom) Resource Users on Earth

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer

Date: 14 May 2012 Time: 08:00 PM ET

View full size image

Humanity burns through the resources of 1.5 Earths in a year, meaning it takes the planet a year and a half to regenerate what we use annually. High-income countries have the largest ecological footprint.

[Read full story on the new biodiversity report]

Here are the top 25 most greedy resource consumers per capita as of 2008:

Ranking	Country
1	Qatar
2	Kuwait
3	United Arab Emirates
4	Denmark
5	USA
6	Belgium
7	Australia
8	Canada
9	The Netherlands
10	Ireland
11	Finland
12	Singapore
13	Sweden
14	Oman
15	Mongolia
16	Macedonia TFYR
17	Austria
18	Czech Republic
19	Slovenia
20	Uruguay
21	Switzerland
22	Greece
23	France
24	Norway
25	Spain

The most minimal resource users tend to be the poorest countries. Here are the bottom resource users, from most to least:

Ranking	Country
25	Guinea-Bissau
24	Cameroon
23	Congo
22	Lesotho
21	Togo
20	Philippines
19	Kenya
18	Tajikistan
17	Angola
16	Yemen
15	India
14	Burundi
13	Zambia
12	Mozambique
11	Malawi
10	Nepal
9	Democratic Republic of the Congo
8	Pakistan
7	Rwanda
6	Bangladesh
5	Eritrea
4	Haiti
3	Afghanistan
2	Timor-Leste
1	Occupied Palestinian Territory*

*Editor's Note: The Occupied Palestinian Territory is a term used by the United Nations and international legal groups to describe portions of the West Bank governed by Israeli military authorities. [Updated 5/15]

Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.