It is usually measured by surface area as:
- hectares per individual,
- hectares used by a city or country to meet its needs,
- etc.
More precisely, the ecological footprint quantifies the bioproductive surface required for an individual or a given population to produce the main resources it consumes and absorb its waste.
Ecological footprint calculations can also be used to give a quantifiable measure of the impact of production activities such as livestock breeding, gold mining, or automobile, computer or mobile phone manufacturing, etc.
