[Objective] The relationship between economic development and the ecological environment was studied in order to provide a reference for high-quality development in the Yangtze River economic belt and coordinated development of the economy and ecology in the Three Gorges reservoir area.[Methods] Taking the Chongqing section of the Three Gorges reservoir area as a study area, the decoupling status of the economy (absolute decoupling, relative decoupling, critical, coupled) and the ecological environment from 2006 to 2018 was judged based on the decoupling model. After combining these data based on the exploratory spatial data analysis(ESDA) method, the spatial differences and pattern evolution characteristics of the decoupling data were analyzed using ArcGIS and OpenGeoDa.[Results] The overall decoupling coefficient of the Chongqing section of the Three Gorges reservoir area was low and the spatial correlation was weak. The decoupling coefficients showed mainly positive spatial correlation in 2006-2010 and 2014-2018 and showed negative spatial correlation from 2010-2014. Local indicators of spatial associaton(LISA) chart analysis showed that the significance was weaker, and the overall change showed significant inversion of the V-shaped development trend in the three time periods.[Conclusion] From 2006 to 2018, the coupling characteristics of economic development and the ecological environment in the Three Gorges reservoir area fluctuated greatly. Therefore, it is urgent to study this area further and formulate relevant regulation measures.