Which international locations waste probably the most meals, and the best way to scale back waste at house | Hunger Information
For each 5 plates of meals served across the globe, roughly one results in the bin. That provides as much as greater than a billion tonnes of meals a yr.
Meanwhile, 645 million individuals, about one in 13 of the globe’s inhabitants, went hungry in 2025, in line with the UN.
That hole is the main target of World Food Day on October 16, the annual UN observance marking the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945. This yr’s theme, “Innovate at this time, nourish tomorrow”, requires meals programs that feed extra individuals and waste much less.
In this visible explainer, Al Jazeera appears to be like at world starvation, which international locations waste probably the most meals and easy methods to waste much less at house.
Hunger is falling, slowly
Global starvation has fallen for a 3rd yr in a row, nevertheless it stays above ranges seen earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the UN’s annual State of Food Security and Nutrition within the World report, an estimated 645 million individuals, or 7.8 % of the globe’s inhabitants, confronted starvation in 2025. That is down from 8.1 % in 2024 and a peak of 8.6 % in 2022, however nonetheless about 61 million extra individuals than in 2019.
Where are individuals probably the most hungry?
Africa has extra hungry individuals than every other area.
In 2025, an estimated 309 million individuals in Africa have been undernourished. That is one in 5 individuals on the continent and virtually half of the globe’s hungry individuals.
By comparability, 292 million individuals in Asia (6 % of the inhabitants) and 32 million in Latin America and the Caribbean (4.8 %) have been undernourished.
The 2026 Global Hunger Index reveals an identical sample on the nation degree. The index scores international locations out of 100, combining undernourishment with youngster stunting, youngster losing and youngster mortality. Scores of 35 or extra are thought of “alarming”.
Hunger is classed as alarming in eight international locations, seven of them in Africa. Somalia has the worst rating of the 122 international locations ranked, adopted by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and Madagascar.
Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi and Yemen have been additionally classed as alarming, however unrest and information gaps meant the index couldn’t calculate their scores.
At the identical time, a big share of the meals the globe grows by no means reaches a plate.
How a lot meals is wasted yearly?
Food is misplaced and wasted at each stage of its journey from farm to desk.
According to the FAO, about 13 % of the meals produced globally is misplaced after harvest and earlier than it reaches outlets, spoiling in storage, throughout transport or in processing. Fruits and greens endure the very best losses.
Food misplaced earlier than it reaches outlets is price greater than $400bn a yr, in line with the FAO.
Shops, eating places and households then throw away virtually a fifth of the meals out there to shoppers, about 1.05 billion tonnes in 2022, in line with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). That is equal to 52.5 million vehicles, every carrying 20 tonnes.
Households account for probably the most, 60 %, adopted by eating places and different meals providers at 28 % and outlets at 12 %.
How to cut back meals waste at house
Most meals waste occurs at house, which suggests households could make an actual distinction. Here are some easy steps really useful by meals waste campaigners and UN businesses:
- Plan earlier than you store: Check what you have already got, plan meals for the week and store with an inventory to keep away from shopping for greater than you want.
- Understand date labels: “Use by” dates are about security, however “finest earlier than” dates are about high quality. Food is usually nonetheless suitable for eating after its “finest earlier than” date.
- Store meals correctly: Keep your fridge at 5C (41F) or under, and retailer fruit and greens the place they final longest. Bananas, for instance, velocity up the ripening of different fruit close by.
- Use the freezer: Bread, cooked meals, meat and plenty of fruit and veggies could be frozen earlier than they go off.
- Cook the correct quantity: Measuring parts, particularly for rice and pasta, cuts down on leftovers that get thrown away.
- Eat the oldest meals first: Move older objects to the entrance of the fridge and cabinet in order that they get used earlier than newer ones.
- Use leftovers and scraps: Turn leftovers into new meals, and use vegetable peels and stalks in soups and shares.
- Compost what you may’t eat: Composting inedible elements reminiscent of peels and eggshells retains them out of landfills, the place rotting meals releases methane.
Which nation wastes probably the most?
On common, each particular person within the globe wastes about 132kg (291 kilos) of meals a yr, roughly the load of two adults. Of that, 79kg (174 kilos) was thrown away at house.
But the quantity varies broadly. Hotter international locations are likely to waste extra at house, UNEP says, probably due to extra recent produce and fewer refrigeration.
The Maldives wastes probably the most meals, with every particular person throwing away about 260kg (573 kilos) a yr, about twice the worldwide common. Syria, the Dominican Republic, Seychelles, Mexico and Tunisia observe, every losing greater than 210kg (463 kilos) per particular person, in line with UN estimates.
Spain recorded a few of the lowest ranges, at round 39kg (86 kilos) or much less per particular person.
What does meals waste price?
Food loss and waste prices the international trade greater than $1 trillion a yr, in line with the UN.
To put that in perspective, what else may $1 trillion purchase?
Use the + buttons so as to add objects to your cart and see how the cash can be spent throughout 35 classes.
Throwing meals away additionally wastes the cash, land and power used to supply it.
About 1.4 billion hectares (3.5 billion acres) of land, or 28 % of the globe’s agricultural land, is used to develop meals that’s by no means eaten. That is an space bigger than Canada.
Food loss and waste additionally generate an estimated 8 to 10 % of world greenhouse fuel emissions, together with methane launched as meals rots in landfills.
