Star-formation efficiency of the dense gas (SFE_dense) as a function of dense gas fraction (F_dense: estimated from the HCN(1–0)-to-CO(1–0) line ratio of Fig. 13) in NGC 1068 using two averaging scales: 100 pc (left panel) and 400 pc (right panel). Magenta circles correspond to data measurements evaluated at the Nyquist-sampled grid of points after convolution with the appropriate Gaussian for each aperture. Black circles show median SFE_dense values, and error bars indicate the rms scatter in the bins. Vertical and horizontal error bars at the lower-right corner of both panels account for the typical uncertainties, which amount to ±0.13 dex.