How much food is wasted?
About a third of all food produced is never eaten, and most of it is thrown away by households.
95% of one person, one year
70 kg is more than 2 of the 6 references on this page.
Reference figures are measurements and are rounded; the unit conversion behind them is exact.
| Reference | Size | Yours ÷ theirs | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| a loaf of bread | 0.8 kg | 87.5× | |
| one household, one week | 4.4 kg | 15.9× | |
| one person, one year | 74 kg | 0.946× | Global household average |
| one UK household, one year | 190 kg | 0.368× | |
| a small car | 1,200 kg | 1/17.1 | For comparison |
| one household over ten years | 1,900 kg | 1/27.1 |
Worth knowing
- Households throw away about 74 kg of food per person per year globally — roughly a fifth of everything bought.
- If food waste were a country, its greenhouse emissions would rank third behind China and the United States.
Frequently asked
What food is wasted most?
Bread, potatoes, milk and salad leaves, in that order in most surveys. All four are cheap, perishable and bought in fixed pack sizes.
Does "best before" mean it is unsafe?
No. Best before is about quality; use by is about safety. Confusing the two is one of the largest single causes of household waste.
How to read this
Figures are from the UNEP Food Waste Index and national surveys; methodologies differ.