Food waste statistics at a glance
Food waste is not a side issue; the numbers show it sits at the center of household behavior, retail operations, food service, and landfill emissions.
The clearest headline is simple: in 2022, the world wasted 1.05 billion tonnes of food across retail, food service, and households (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
Fast facts
- 1.05 billion tonnes of food were wasted globally in 2022 (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- That was 19% of food available to consumers at retail, food service, and household levels (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- Households accounted for 631 million tonnes, or 60% of total food waste, in 2022 (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- The food service sector accounted for 290 million tonnes in 2022 (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- The retail sector accounted for 131 million tonnes in 2022 (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- The 1.05 billion tonnes came on top of an estimated 13% of food lost in the supply chain before retail (FAO food loss and food waste page).
Table of contents
- Global food waste in 2022
- Household, retail, and food service breakdown
- Country and income-group comparisons
- U.S. food waste and landfill data
- UK food waste data
- What the numbers suggest
Global food waste in 2022
The global picture starts with the consumer-facing part of the food system. UNEP estimates that 1.05 billion tonnes of food were wasted in 2022 across households, food service, and retail (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
That figure matters because it is not a narrow estimate of one channel or one country. It spans the parts of the system most people interact with directly, which makes it useful for comparing how waste is distributed across everyday settings.
The three big sources
The split across sectors is uneven:
| Sector | Food waste in 2022 | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Households | 631 million tonnes (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024) | 60% (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024) |
| Food service | 290 million tonnes (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024) | 28% (derived from UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 figures) |
| Retail | 131 million tonnes (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024) | 12% (derived from UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 figures) |
Households are the dominant source by a wide margin. That is the first practical takeaway from the data: the biggest waste problem is not only in stores or restaurants; it is in the home.
Per-person averages
UNEP also gives a useful per-capita view:
- Average household food waste was 79 kilograms per person per year globally in 2022 (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- Average food service waste was 36 kilograms per person per year globally in 2022 (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- Average retail food waste was 17 kilograms per person per year globally in 2022 (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
That pattern shows how quickly the scale changes as waste moves from a single household to a whole population. Household waste is more than double food service waste on a per-person basis, and far above retail.
Household, retail, and food service waste by income group
The 2024 UNEP report also breaks household food waste down by income group, and the spread is tighter than many people would expect.
- High-income countries averaged 81 kilograms of household food waste per person per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- Upper-middle-income countries averaged 88 kilograms per person per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- Lower-middle-income countries averaged 86 kilograms per person per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- Low-income countries used an extrapolated household average of 91 kilograms per person per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
The striking part is not the ranking alone. It is the narrow range. Across the three income groups with sufficient data coverage, the average household food waste ranged only from 81 to 88 kilograms per person per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024). That 7-kilogram spread equals about 128 grams per person per week (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
What that means in practice
The data does not support a simple story that food waste is only a rich-country problem. The household averages are clustered closely together, which suggests that waste behavior, storage, shopping habits, and planning issues are widespread.
That does not mean every country wastes food at the same level. It means the household side of the problem is broad, not isolated.
Country examples from UNEP Annex 3
The country estimates in Annex 3 give more texture to the global averages.
| Country | Household food waste per capita | Household food waste estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 98 kilograms per capita per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) | 2,559,065 tonnes per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) |
| New Zealand | 61 kilograms per capita per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) | 316,590 tonnes per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) |
| Kazakhstan | 88 kilograms per capita per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) | 1,708,990 tonnes per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) |
| Kyrgyzstan | 86 kilograms per capita per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) | 568,288 tonnes per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) |
| China | 76 kilograms per capita per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) | 108,667,369 tonnes per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) |
| Japan | 60 kilograms per capita per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) | 7,398,006 tonnes per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) |
| Mongolia | 18 kilograms per capita per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) | 60,364 tonnes per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) |
| Republic of Korea | 95 kilograms per capita per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) | 4,921,086 tonnes per year (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 Annex 3) |
These examples show why per-capita and total-tonnage numbers should be read together. A country can have a modest per-person rate and still generate a huge absolute volume because of population size.
The scale of global coverage
UNEP estimated food waste for 233 countries or areas (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
An additional 16 countries or areas in the M49 standard had no population estimate, so 249 are in the standard overall (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
That coverage matters because it makes the report more than a regional snapshot. It is a broad global dataset, even though some country-level estimates rely on modeling and extrapolation.
U.S. food waste statistics
The U.S. data adds another layer because EPA tracks both generation and management pathways.
How much food is wasted
EPA estimated that 66,216,242 tons of wasted food were generated in the food retail, food service, and residential sectors in 2019 (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data).
EPA also estimated an additional 40 million tons of wasted food was generated in food and beverage manufacturing and processing in 2019 (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data).
Taken together, that shows how much of the food-waste problem sits across both consumer-facing and upstream industry segments.
Where the waste goes
The management data shows a very different picture from the idealized version of recovery many people imagine.
| Management pathway | Tons | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Landfill | 39,621,902 tons (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) | 59.84% (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) |
| Controlled combustion | 9,646,263 tons (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) | 14.57% (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) |
| Sewer and wastewater treatment | 3,975,352 tons (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) | 6.00% (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) |
| Composting | 3,304,764 tons (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) | 4.99% (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) |
| Bio-based materials and biochemical processing | 2,335,988 tons (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) | 3.53% (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) |
| Animal feed | 1,516,771 tons (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) | 2.29% (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) |
| Donation | 5,135,293 tons (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) | 7.76% (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) |
| Anaerobic digestion | 538,539 tons (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) | 0.81% (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) |
| Land application | 141,371 tons (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) | 0.21% (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data) |
The biggest single pathway is landfill. EPA estimated that about 60% of the 2019 wasted food was sent to landfills (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data).
That is the core operational takeaway: the largest endpoint is still disposal, not recovery.
Methane and landfill impact
EPA says wasted food comprises about 24% of municipal solid waste disposed in U.S. landfills (US EPA Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfilled Food Waste).
EPA also found that wasted food was responsible for 58% of landfill methane emissions to the atmosphere in its analysis (US EPA Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfilled Food Waste).
EPA further states that municipal solid waste landfills were the third-largest source of methane emissions from human activities in the United States (US EPA Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfilled Food Waste).
That combination of facts explains why food waste is not only a material-loss issue. It is also an emissions issue.
Recycling and composting context
EPA estimated that 28.1% of wasted food generation was managed through other food management pathways in 2018 (US EPA National Overview).
The agency also estimated these per-capita rates in 2018:
- Recycling: 1.16 pounds per person per day (US EPA National Overview).
- Composting: 0.42 pounds per person per day (US EPA National Overview).
- Other food management: 0.30 pounds per person per day (US EPA National Overview).
EPA estimated the food and other municipal solid waste composting rate at 4.1% in 2018 (US EPA National Overview), while the food composting rate was 2.2% in 2000 (US EPA National Overview).
That gap shows that composting has grown, but still remains a small share relative to disposal.
EPA also estimated that about 68% of wasted food generated in 2018, or about 42.8 million tons, ended up in landfills or combustion facilities (US EPA Reducing Wasted Food At Home).
UK food waste statistics
The UK data is useful because it separates national totals from household contributions.
- Total food waste in the UK was estimated at 10.7 million tonnes in 2021 (WRAP data stories press release).
- Households generated 6.4 million tonnes of that total in 2021 (WRAP data stories press release).
- Household food waste accounted for 60% of total UK food waste in 2021 (WRAP data stories press release).
That again reinforces a familiar pattern: households are the biggest single source.
WRAP also found that self-reported food waste increased from 20.2% in November 2023 to 21% in June 2024 in its 2024 UK household survey (WRAP Household Food Management Survey UK).
WRAP estimates that the average UK household of four throws away food worth about Ł1,000 per year (WRAP blog on reducing food waste at home).
It also estimates household food waste generates 18 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, equal to 3% of the UK’s total carbon footprint (WRAP blog on reducing food waste at home).
How to read these food waste numbers
The numbers across UNEP, EPA, and WRAP point in the same direction, but each source answers a different question.
- UNEP is strongest for global comparisons and sector split (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- EPA is strongest for U.S. generation, management, and disposal pathways (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data; US EPA National Overview; US EPA Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfilled Food Waste).
- WRAP is strongest for UK household and national estimates (WRAP data stories press release; WRAP Household Food Management Survey UK; WRAP blog on reducing food waste at home).
A useful reading rule is to separate three layers:
- How much food is wasted.
- Where it is wasted.
- What happens to it afterward.
Once you do that, the data becomes easier to interpret. Households dominate the consumer-facing totals, landfills remain the biggest disposal route, and methane is a major part of the environmental cost.
What the statistics show most clearly
The strongest pattern in the available numbers is consistency across different datasets:
- Households are the largest source of food waste globally (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024).
- Landfills are still the biggest destination for wasted food in the U.S. (US EPA Food: Material-Specific Data).
- Food waste remains large enough to matter at both the grocery and climate level (UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024; US EPA Quantifying Methane Emissions from Landfilled Food Waste; WRAP blog on reducing food waste at home).
The data does not need embellishment. It already shows that food waste is a high-volume household problem, a large-scale systems problem, and an emissions problem all at once.