Food loss and food waste are related but different measures. FAO’s supply-chain estimate covers food lost after harvest and before retail, while UNEP’s food-waste estimate covers households, food service and retail and includes inedible parts.
Key Food Loss Statistics
The most useful headline figures span global supply chains, consumer waste, resources, emissions and national estimates:
- In 2019, an estimated 14% of the world’s food was lost after harvest and before retail across on-farm activities, storage and transportation.
- In 2021, FAO estimated 13% of global food supply-chain food was lost, equal to 931 million tonnes or 120 kg per person worldwide.
- In 2022, the world generated 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste, including inedible parts, across households, food service and retail.
- In 2022, global food waste averaged 132 kg per person.
- In 2022, food waste represented 19% of food available to consumers worldwide.
- In 2022, households accounted for 631 million tonnes, or 60% of global food waste.
- In 2022, global food service generated 290 million tonnes of food waste.
- In 2022, global retail generated 131 million tonnes of food waste.
- In 2022, households worldwide wasted more than one billion meals per day.
- In a 2012 global model, food lost within the supply chain represented about one quarter of produced food supply, or 614 kcal per person per day.
- In that 2012 model, lost and wasted food crops used 24% of freshwater resources used in food-crop production.
- In 2017, global food loss and waste produced 9.3 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions.
- In 2010, U.S. retail and consumer-level food loss was estimated at 133 billion pounds, or 31% of available food.
- In 2010, U.S. retail and consumer-level food loss had an estimated retail value of $162 billion.
- In 2019, U.S. retail, food service and residential sectors generated 66.2 million short tons of wasted food.
- In 2019, 5% of that U.S. wasted food was composted.
- In Indonesia, food loss and waste was estimated at 115–184 kg per person per year in a 2021 report covering the previous two decades.
Contents
- Key Food Loss Statistics
- Global Food Loss Statistics from Harvest to Retail
- Food Waste Statistics by Household, Food Service and Retail
- Regional Food Loss Trends and Supply-Chain Stages
- Food Loss Statistics by Commodity and Stage
- Food Loss Costs, Calories and Resource Impacts
- Food Loss and Waste Emissions and National Case Studies
Global Food Loss Statistics from Harvest to Retail
FAO’s 2019 estimate places post-harvest food loss before retail at 14% globally. The scope includes on-farm activities, storage and transportation, but it does not measure consumer food waste.
FAO: A major step forward in reducing food loss and waste is critical to achieve the SDGs identifies those stages and the 2019 estimate.
A newer FAO figure reported in the UNEP 2024 key messages puts supply-chain loss at 13% in 2021, equivalent to 931 million tonnes or 120 kg per person globally. This is post-harvest loss up to and excluding retail, so it is not directly comparable with broader food-loss-and-waste totals.
| Measure | Period | Global estimate | Boundary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food lost after harvest and before retail | 2019 | 14% of food | Includes on-farm activities, storage and transport |
| Supply-chain food loss | 2021 | 13%; 931 million tonnes; 120 kg per person | Post-harvest to excluding retail |
Source: UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024 – Key Messages.
Food Waste Statistics by Household, Food Service and Retail
UNEP estimates that 1.05 billion tonnes of food waste were generated worldwide in 2022. The estimate includes inedible parts and covers food waste at household, food-service and retail levels.
Food waste was 132 kg per person and represented 19% of food available to consumers in 2022. These figures describe consumer-facing waste, not the post-harvest supply-chain loss measured by FAO.
| Sector | 2022 food waste | Share or context |
|---|---|---|
| Households worldwide | 631 million tonnes | 60% of global food waste |
| Food service worldwide | 290 million tonnes | Sector estimate |
| Retail worldwide | 131 million tonnes | Sector estimate |
Households across continents wasted more than one billion meals per day in 2022, although UNEP presents the meal figure as a communication metric with tonnes as the underlying measure. Observed average household waste levels in high-, upper-middle- and lower-middle-income countries differed by only 7 kg per person, but available country data do not imply equal uncertainty or complete coverage.
UNEP’s 2024 report tracks national progress toward the SDG 12.3 policy target of halving food waste by 2030. That 50% reduction is a target, not an achieved result.
Regional Food Loss Trends and Supply-Chain Stages
The regional figures below come from FAO’s 2007 model assumptions, not current measured observations. They represent estimated percentages entering particular stages and should be read as historical model inputs rather than present-day regional rates.
| Region | Commodity | Stage assumption | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Europe including Russia | Roots and tubers | 30% at consumption | 2007 model |
| Industrialized Asia | Cereals | 20% at consumption | 2007 model |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | Fruits and vegetables | 25% at processing and packaging | 2007 model |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | Fruits and vegetables | 17% at distribution | 2007 model |
| North Africa, West and Central Asia | Fruits and vegetables | 15% at distribution | 2007 model |
| South and Southeast Asia | Fruits and vegetables | 25% at processing and packaging | 2007 model |
| Latin America | Fruits and vegetables | 20% at processing and packaging | 2007 model |
The assumptions illustrate how the modeled stage differs by region and commodity. They should not be combined into a single regional trend or compared as if they were observations from one survey.
Source: FAO, Global food losses and food waste.
Food Loss Statistics by Commodity and Stage
FAO’s appendix also assigns historical model assumptions to individual commodities and stages. The values are useful for understanding the model’s structure, but the source explicitly presents them as estimates or assumptions from 2007.
| Region | Commodity and stage | Assumption |
|---|---|---|
| Europe including Russia | Fruits and vegetables at consumption | 28% |
| Europe including Russia | Cereals at consumption | 27% |
| Europe including Russia | Fruits and vegetables in agricultural production | 20% |
| Industrialized Asia | Fruits and vegetables at consumption | 15% |
| Industrialized Asia | Roots and tubers at consumption | 20% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | Meat in agricultural production | 15% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | Milk in post-harvest handling and storage | 11% |
| North Africa, West and Central Asia | Oilseeds and pulses in agricultural production | 15% |
| North Africa, West and Central Asia | Fish and seafood at distribution | 10% |
| South and Southeast Asia | Roots and tubers at distribution | 11% |
| South and Southeast Asia | Fish and seafood at distribution | 15% |
| Latin America | Roots and tubers in post-harvest handling and storage | 14% |
| Latin America | Fruits and vegetables at household consumption | 10% |
These percentages are not current measurements and do not establish that one commodity or region has the highest present-day loss. They preserve the source’s stage definitions and older modeling context.
Food Loss Costs, Calories and Resource Impacts
A peer-reviewed 2012 study modeled losses and waste across global food-supply databases. It estimated that about one quarter of produced food supply, equal to 614 kcal per person per day, was lost within the food supply chain.
The same model estimated the resource footprint of lost and wasted food crops as follows:
- Food crops linked to losses and waste used 24% of freshwater resources used in food-crop production.
- The modeled freshwater footprint was 27 cubic meters per person per year.
- Lost and wasted food crops occupied 23% of global cropland, equal to 31 × 10^-3 hectares per person per year.
- Lost and wasted food crops represented 23% of global fertilizer use, equal to 4.3 kg per person per year.
These are model-derived resource footprints, not metered water use or direct land and fertilizer audits. The study is older and uses a broader food-supply-chain definition than the newer FAO loss index.
USDA ERS estimated that 430 billion pounds of food were available at U.S. retail and consumer levels in 2010. Its estimate of food loss was 133 billion pounds, or 31%, with an estimated retail value of $162 billion.
That 2010 U.S. loss represented 141 trillion available calories that were not consumed. The national estimate averaged about 1.2 pounds per person per day and more than $1.40 of retail value per person per day; the dollar measure is retail value, not household spending or disposal cost.
Source: USDA ERS Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System – Food Loss.
Food Loss and Waste Emissions and National Case Studies
A peer-reviewed cradle-to-grave model estimated that global food loss and waste emitted 9.3 gigatonnes of CO2-equivalent in 2017. The study estimated that this was about half of annual greenhouse-gas emissions from the whole food system, a ratio dependent on the model’s system boundaries.
EPA estimated that U.S. retail, food service and residential sectors generated 66.2 million short tons of wasted food in 2019. Only 5% was composted under that sector boundary.
Food made up 24.1% of U.S. municipal solid waste sent to landfills in 2018. Food, yard trimmings, wood and paper/paperboard together made up 51.4% of landfilled municipal solid waste, a combined category that is not all food.
In 2022, U.S. municipal solid-waste landfills accounted for approximately 14% of human-related methane emissions, while EPA attributed 58% of landfill methane emissions to wasted food. The first figure is not food-specific, and the second is not total U.S. methane.
Source: EPA Composting.
Indonesia’s 2021 national report, covering the previous two decades, estimated food loss and waste at 115–184 kg per person per year. It combined production-to-wholesale loss with retail-to-household waste.
The same report estimated annual economic loss at IDR 213–551 trillion, reported as roughly 4–5% of GDP. This is a cited national estimate and range, not a measured cash loss recorded as a single national-account line item.
Source: FAO and MoA Start the Food Loss Study in Indonesia.
EPA’s 2023 consumer estimates show how commodity-specific waste and cost can differ in the United States. The figures below are modeled from USDA loss-adjusted availability and NIQ commodity prices, not direct household waste audits.
| Commodity category | Consumer waste, 2023 | Estimated cost per person |
|---|---|---|
| Meat | 25.6 lb per person | $133.48 |
| Other dairy | 17.8 lb per person | $74.32 |
| Processed fruit | 6.7 lb per person | $65.86 |
| Fish and seafood | 5.1 lb per person | $61.33 |
| Fresh vegetables | 31.0 lb per person | $59.49 |
| Fresh fruit | 22.6 lb per person | $44.58 |
Source: Estimating the Cost of Food Waste to American Consumers.