2026-10-08 · tonnes of food lost or wasted per year
Rich countries waste more food at retail and home
Loss happens on farms everywhere — waste at the fork is income-skewed.
Every year the world loses or wastes about 1.3 billion tonnes of food — and where it disappears depends on income. High-income countries account for 39% of the total, concentrated at retail and in households, while farm-level loss happens everywhere. Waste at the fork is income-skewed; loss on the farm is not.
1 cell = 1.3 million tonnes of food lost or wasted per year (0.1% of global food supply) · 1,000 cells
Context
High-income countries hold a 39% share of the 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost or wasted each year; middle- and low-income countries account for the remaining 61%. The high-income slice is concentrated at retail and in the home — the fork-end stages where income makes the biggest difference.
Because farm-level loss happens everywhere, middle- and low-income regions still carry the majority of the total despite lower waste at the fork. The skew points prevention toward supermarket shelves and household bins in wealthy countries.
Figures follow UNEP's Food Waste Index regional shares as presented in the 2026 edition; the 1.3-billion-tonne total covers food lost or wasted across the global food supply each year.
UNEP Food Waste Index regional shares.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-10-08-food-waste-rich
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