2026-08-11 · 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.
The world loses or wastes 1.3 billion tonnes of food a year — and where it disappears depends on income. Farm-level loss happens everywhere. But waste at retail and in the home is income-skewed: high-income countries account for 39% of the world's food waste, while middle- and low-income countries account for the remaining 61%.
1 cell = 1.3 million tonnes of food lost or wasted per year (0.1% of global food supply) · 1,000 cells
Context
The 1.3 billion tonnes covers two different failures: food lost before it ever reaches a shopper — in fields, storage, and transit — and food wasted at retail and in homes. Loss on the farm happens everywhere, regardless of income.
Waste at the fork is income-skewed. High-income countries generate 39% of the world's food waste; middle- and low-income countries generate the remaining 61%. The fork — supermarket shelves, restaurants, kitchen bins — is where income divides the problem.
Figures are UNEP Food Waste Index regional shares, 2026 edition. For high-income countries, the biggest lever sits at the end of the chain: what gets bought, served, and thrown away.
UNEP Food Waste Index regional shares.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-08-11-food-waste-rich