The Global Food Waste Crisis: Where the Most is Wasted and How to Cut Back at Home

For every five plates of food served globally, roughly one is thrown away, amounting to over a billion tonnes of waste annually.

Meanwhile, according to the UN, 645 million people—approximately one in thirteen of the world’s population—faced hunger in 2025.

This stark disparity is the central theme of World Food Day, observed annually on October 16 to mark the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945. This year’s theme, “Innovate today, nourish tomorrow,” advocates for food systems that maximize nourishment while minimizing waste.

In this visual explainer, Al Jazeera examines the state of global hunger, identifies which countries waste the most food, and offers practical steps to reduce waste in our daily lives.

Hunger is falling, slowly

Global hunger has declined for three consecutive years, yet it remains above pre-pandemic levels.

According to the UN’s annual State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report, an estimated 645 million people, or 7.8 percent of the global population, faced hunger in 2025. This represents a decrease from 8.1 percent in 2024 and a peak of 8.6 percent in 2022, but still leaves about 61 million more people hungry than in 2019.

Where are people the most hungry?

Africa remains the region with the highest number of hungry people.

In 2025, an estimated 309 million people in Africa were undernourished, representing one in five people on the continent and nearly half of the world’s hungry population.

By comparison, 292 million people in Asia (6 percent of the population) and 32 million in Latin America and the Caribbean (4.8 percent) were undernourished.

The 2026 Global Hunger Index reflects similar trends at the country level. The index scores nations out of 100, combining undernourishment with child stunting, child wasting, and child mortality. Scores of 35 or higher are classified as “alarming.”

Hunger is classified as alarming in eight countries, seven of which are located in Africa. Somalia recorded the lowest score among the 122 countries ranked, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, and Madagascar.

Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, and Yemen were also categorized as alarming, though conflict and data gaps prevented the calculation of their scores.

At the same time, a significant portion of the food produced globally never reaches a plate.

How much food is wasted every year?

Food loss and waste occur at every stage of the journey from farm to table.

According to the FAO, approximately 13 percent of globally produced food is lost after harvest and before reaching retail outlets, spoiling during storage, transport, or processing. Fruits and vegetables experience the highest rates of loss.

The value of food lost before reaching shops exceeds $400 billion annually, according to the FAO.

Subsequently, retailers, restaurants, and households discard nearly one-fifth of the food available to consumers—about 1.05 billion tonnes in 2022, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). This volume is equivalent to 52.5 million trucks, each carrying 20 tonnes.

Households account for the largest share at 60 percent, followed by restaurants and other food services at 28 percent, and retail shops at 12 percent.

How to reduce food waste at home

Because the majority of food waste occurs in households, individual actions can make a substantial difference. Below are practical steps recommended by food waste advocates and UN agencies to help minimize waste:

1. Plan before you shop: Assess what you already have at home, plan your meals for the week, and shop with a prepared list to avoid purchasing unnecessary items.
2. Understand date labels: “Use by” dates relate to safety, whereas “best before” dates indicate quality. Food is often safe to consume even after its “best before” date has passed.
3. Store food properly: Keep your refrigerator at 5°C (41°F) or below, and store fruits and vegetables in conditions that maximize their shelf life. Note that bananas, for instance, can accelerate the ripening of other nearby fruits.
4. Utilize your freezer: Bread, cooked meals, meat, and various fruits and vegetables can be frozen before they spoil.
5. Cook the correct portions: Measuring servings, particularly for staples like rice and pasta, helps prevent leftovers from being discarded.
6. Consume older items first: Move older food items to the front of the fridge and pantry so they are used before newer purchases.
7. Repurpose leftovers and scraps: Transform leftovers into new meals, and use vegetable peels and stalks to flavor soups and stocks.
8. Compost what cannot be eaten: Composting inedible parts like peels and eggshells prevents them from entering landfills, where decomposing food releases methane.

Which country wastes the most?

On average, each person on Earth wastes about 132kg (291 pounds) of food annually, roughly the weight of two adults. Of this total, 79kg (174 pounds) is discarded at home.

However, waste levels vary significantly. UNEP notes that hotter countries tend to waste more food at home, potentially due to a higher reliance on fresh produce and limited refrigeration.

The Maldives tops the list, with each resident throwing away approximately 260kg (573 pounds) of food yearly—about double the global average. Syria, the Dominican Republic, Seychelles, Mexico, and Tunisia follow, with per capita waste exceeding 210kg (463 pounds), based on UN estimates.

In contrast, Spain recorded some of the lowest levels of food waste, at around 39kg (86 pounds) or less per person.

What does food waste cost?

Food loss and waste cost the global economy over $1 trillion annually, according to the UN.

To grasp the scale of this expenditure, consider what else $1 trillion could purchase.

Discarding food also squanders the financial resources, land, and energy invested in its production.

Roughly 1.4 billion hectares (3.5 billion acres) of land—accounting for 28 percent of the world’s agricultural area—is used to grow food that is never consumed. This represents an area larger than Canada.

Furthermore, food loss and waste are responsible for an estimated 8 to 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, including methane released as organic waste decomposes in landfills.

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