The Global Database Mapping Every Country's Hidden Environmental Footprint

Every smartphone purchased in Germany, every t-shirt bought in Japan, and every car manufactured in Mexico leaves an environmental trail that spans continents. For the first time, researchers have created a comprehensive database that tracks these hidden impacts across 44 countries and five world regions. EXIOBASE 3 connects the dots between what we consume and where the environmental costs actually occur, revealing a global economy where pollution rarely stays where products are made.

The database spans 25 years of economic and environmental data, from 1995 to 2022, capturing how global supply chains have evolved and spread environmental impacts across borders. Nearly half a million downloads by researchers, policymakers, and analysts worldwide demonstrate the hunger for this kind of transparency. The data reveals patterns invisible in traditional economic statistics: how European consumption drives deforestation in Southeast Asia, how American demand for electronics creates water pollution in China, and how global trade has fundamentally changed who bears the environmental costs of modern life.

Unlike previous environmental databases that focused on single countries or specific industries, EXIOBASE 3 provides the full picture of interconnected global supply chains. The annual updates now being produced capture rapid changes in global trade patterns, especially shifts accelerated by recent geopolitical events and climate policies. For the first time, countries can see not just their direct environmental impact, but their total footprint including all the upstream effects of their consumption patterns.