Food waste is measured differently across the food system. The figures below distinguish downstream food waste from upstream food loss, identify the population and period covered, and retain the estimates and limitations reported by each source.
Key Food Waste Statistics
The most broadly useful food waste statistics include:
- In 2022, 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste were generated globally, including edible and inedible parts.
- In 2022, global food waste averaged 132 kg per person worldwide.
- In 2022, food waste represented about 19% of food available to consumers globally.
- In 2022, households accounted for 631 million tonnes, or 60%, of global food waste.
- In 2022, food service accounted for 290 million tonnes, or 28%, of global food waste.
- In 2022, retail accounted for 12% of global food waste.
- In 2021, average global post-harvest food loss was 13.2% of food after harvest.
- In 2022, global households generated an estimated 79 kg of food waste per person.
- In 2022, Southern Asian households averaged 100 kg of food waste per person.
- In 2022, North American households averaged 76 kg of food waste per person.
- In 2022, the European Union generated 59.2 million tonnes of food waste.
- In 2022, EU households generated 54% of EU food waste, or 72 kg per inhabitant.
- In 2021, UK households generated an estimated 6.4 million tonnes of food waste.
- In 2021, total UK food waste was estimated at 10.7 million tonnes, equal to 25% of food purchased.
- In 2010, 31% of the U.S. retail- and consumer-level food supply went uneaten.
- In 2019, U.S. retail, food service and residential sectors generated 66.2 million tons of wasted food.
- In 2021/22, UK households spent an estimated £17 billion on food and drink that was subsequently wasted.
- In 2021/22, wasted food and drink accounted for approximately 18 million tonnes of UK CO2-equivalent emissions.
Contents
- Global food waste scale and per-person data
- Household food waste by region and income
- Food waste across the supply chain
- EU food waste statistics by country
- U.S. food waste, costs and disposal
- UK food waste costs, emissions and trends
Global Food Waste Statistics: Scale and Per-Person Totals
The United Nations Environment Programme estimated 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste worldwide in 2022. This downstream measure covered retail and consumer levels and included both edible and inedible parts; it is not the same as food loss occurring before retail (UNEP, “World squanders over 1 billion meals a day – UN report”).
UNEP estimated that food waste represented about 19% of food available to consumers globally in 2022. The global average was 132 kg per person, but that average combines households, food service and retail rather than describing household waste alone.
| Global downstream stage, 2022 | Estimated waste | Share of global food waste |
|---|---|---|
| Households | 631 million tonnes | 60% |
| Food service | 290 million tonnes | 28% |
| Retail | Not stated as a tonnage in the supplied figure | 12% |
The sector shares come from the UNEP Food Waste Index estimate and include edible and inedible parts. The source also estimated household waste at 79 kg per person, food service at 36 kg, and retail at 17 kg in 2022; these are sector-level per-capita allocations, not measurements of one individual’s behavior (UK Food Security Report 2024, Theme 1).
Food loss should be kept separate from downstream waste. Average global post-harvest food loss was estimated at 13.2% of food after harvest in 2021, covering specified on-farm and transport, storage and processing stages upstream of retail.
Household Food Waste Statistics by Region and Income
Regional household estimates show substantial variation, while the available evidence does not support treating one regional value as a universal household norm. UNEP reported uneven country coverage and varying confidence, so the figures below are estimates rather than a complete weighing study for every country.
| Household geography | 2022 estimated food waste per person |
|---|---|
| Southern Asia | 100 kg per year |
| North America | 76 kg per year |
| Eastern Asia | 70 kg per year |
| Europe | 53–80 kg per year |
The European figure is a range reflecting regional data variation, not one Europe-wide point estimate. The observed average differed by only 7 kg per person between high-, upper-middle- and lower-middle-income country groups, but that comparison does not mean every country in a group is similar (UK Food Security Report 2024, Theme 1).
A peer-reviewed Nature Food database covering 121 countries estimated that combined food loss and waste increased by one quarter between 2004 and 2014. The same synthesis estimated nutritional losses of about 550 calories per person per day in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia; this is a modelled nutritional-loss estimate, not a direct measurement of discarded household food (Nature Food, “Global food loss and waste estimates show increasing nutritional and environmental pressures”).
Food Waste Statistics Across Households, Food Service, Retail and Farms
Supply-chain comparisons need careful definitions because countries classify stages differently. In the EU, the 2022 estimate covered edible and inedible parts and used the Waste Framework Directive methodology; in the UK, farm and hospitality estimates have weaker evidence than household and retail data.
The European Union generated 59.2 million tonnes, or 132 kg per inhabitant, in 2022. Eurostat estimated that some country aggregates were based on reporting countries because data were unavailable for Greece, Spain, Lithuania and Romania on the cited page (Eurostat, “Food waste: 132 kg per inhabitant in the EU in 2022”).
| EU sector, 2022 | Share | Per inhabitant |
|---|---|---|
| Households | 54% | 72 kg |
| Food manufacturing | 19% | 25 kg |
| Restaurants and food services | 11% | 15 kg |
| Retail and other distribution | 8% | 11 kg |
| Primary production | 8% | 10 kg |
The UK estimated 10.7 million tonnes of total food waste in 2021, equivalent to 25% of food purchased. Households represented 60%, while the sector estimates were 6.4 million tonnes for households, 1.6 million tonnes on farms, 1.4 million tonnes in food manufacturing, 1.1 million tonnes in hospitality and food service, and 0.2 million tonnes in retail (UK Food Security Report 2024, Theme 2).
The UK on-farm figure is a central estimate with an uncertainty range of 0.9–3.5 million tonnes. That uncertainty, along with modelled inputs in primary production, means the UK sector values should not be read as equally precise measurements.
EU Food Waste Statistics by Country
Eurostat country figures for 2022 show a wide spread in estimated food waste per inhabitant. They include edible and inedible parts and should be interpreted within the common methodology and the reporting limitations of the EU aggregate.
| EU country | Food waste per inhabitant, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Cyprus | 290 kg |
| Denmark | 252 kg |
| France | 140 kg |
| Hungary | 91 kg |
| Croatia | 84 kg |
These country figures are estimates, not a ranking of household behavior alone. The EU measure covers the food-waste stages defined by the reporting framework, including household, manufacturing, food service, retail and primary-production categories where reported (Eurostat, “Food waste: 132 kg per inhabitant in the EU in 2022”).
U.S. Food Waste Statistics: Losses, Costs and Disposal
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that the retail- and consumer-level available food supply was 430 billion pounds in 2010. Estimated food loss at those levels was 133 billion pounds, meaning 31% of the available supply went uneaten; the estimate represented 141 trillion calories, or a derived average of 1,249 calories per person per day, not actual individual intake (USDA ERS, “The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States”).
A later Environmental Protection Agency estimate found that U.S. retail, food service and residential sectors generated 66.2 million tons of wasted food in 2019. Only 5% was composted, under the cited sector scope, which covers a narrower set of stages than a full food-system estimate (EPA, “Composting”).
| U.S. measure | Period | Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Food in landfilled municipal solid waste | 2018 | 24.1% |
| Food, yard trimmings, wood and paper/paperboard in landfills | 2018 | 51.4% |
| Municipal solid-waste landfill share of human-related methane emissions | 2022 | Approximately 14% |
| Wasted food’s share of landfill methane emissions | 2022 source estimate | 58% |
The landfill figures describe disposal and emissions measures, not the same denominator as the USDA available-food-supply estimate. The 2022 methane figures concern landfill methane, and the 58% estimate is not a direct measure of food tonnage (EPA, “Composting”).
UK Food Waste Statistics: Household Costs, Emissions and Trends
UK total food waste was estimated at 115.7 kg per capita in 2021, while household food waste collected by authorities was 75.5 kg per person. The household collection figure excluded food disposed of down the sewer and food composted at home, so the measures are not interchangeable (UK Food Security Report 2024, Theme 2).
In 2021/22, edible household food waste was estimated at 4.7 million tonnes, or 74% of household food waste. UK households spent an estimated £17 billion on food and drink subsequently wasted, equal to £250 per person per year; these cost estimates cover edible food purchase cost only and exclude cooking, storage and transport costs.
Cost and weight can tell different stories. Meat and fish represented 19% of household food-waste cost but 6% by weight in 2021/22, while meat and fish produced 26% of emissions from wasted food despite being 6% of waste by weight.
UK wasted food and drink accounted for approximately 18 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions in 2021/22, around 3% of consumption-related greenhouse-gas emissions. This emissions estimate includes land use, agriculture, production, distribution, household and disposal stages, so it is broader than disposal emissions alone.
Primary production was estimated to have 3.6 million tonnes of food surplus and waste in 2019, equal to 7.2% of food harvested. Of that, surplus was estimated at 2 million tonnes, or 4%, while food waste was estimated at 1.6 million tonnes, or 3.2%; surplus includes material diverted to redistribution, feed or bio-based materials rather than waste.
Finally, UK redistribution organisations reported receiving about 191,000 tonnes of redistributed food in 2023, worth approximately £764 million. This was a WRAP survey of included organisations, not a census of every redistribution organisation (UK Food Security Report 2024, Theme 2).