Which countries waste the most food, and how to reduce waste at home

For each 5 plates of nutrient served astir the world, astir 1 ends up successful the bin. That adds up to much than a cardinal tonnes of nutrient a year.

Meanwhile, 645 cardinal people, astir 1 successful 13 of the world’s population, went bare successful 2025, according to the UN.

That spread is the absorption of World Food Day connected October 16, the yearly UN observance marking the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) successful 1945. This year’s theme, “Innovate today, nourish tomorrow”, calls for nutrient systems that provender much radical and discarded less.

In this ocular explainer, Al Jazeera looks astatine planetary hunger, which countries discarded the astir nutrient and elemental ways to discarded little astatine home.

Hunger is falling, slowly

Global hunger has fallen for a 3rd twelvemonth successful a row, but it remains supra levels seen earlier the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the UN’s yearly State of Food Security and Nutrition successful the World report, an estimated 645 cardinal people, oregon 7.8 percent of the world’s population, faced hunger successful 2025. That is down from 8.1 percent successful 2024 and a highest of 8.6 percent successful 2022, but inactive astir 61 cardinal much radical than successful 2019.

[Al Jazeera]

Where are radical the astir hungry?

Africa has much bare radical than immoderate different region.

In 2025, an estimated 309 cardinal radical successful Africa were undernourished. That is 1 successful 5 radical connected the continent and astir fractional of the world’s bare people.

By comparison, 292 cardinal radical successful Asia (6 percent of the population) and 32 cardinal successful Latin America and the Caribbean (4.8 percent) were undernourished.

The 2026 Global Hunger Index shows a akin signifier astatine the state level. The scale scores countries retired of 100, combining undernourishment with kid stunting, kid wasting and kid mortality. Scores of 35 oregon much are considered “alarming”.

Hunger is classed arsenic alarming successful 8 countries, 7 of them successful Africa. Somalia has the worst people of the 122 countries ranked, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad and Madagascar.

Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi and Yemen were besides classed arsenic alarming, but struggle and information gaps meant the scale could not cipher their scores.

At the aforesaid time, a ample stock of the nutrient the satellite grows ne'er reaches a plate.

How overmuch nutrient is wasted each year?

Food is mislaid and wasted astatine each signifier of its travel from workplace to table.

According to the FAO, astir 13 percent of the nutrient produced globally is mislaid aft harvest and earlier it reaches shops, spoiling successful storage, during transport oregon successful processing. Fruits and vegetables endure the highest losses.

Food mislaid earlier it reaches shops is worthy much than $400bn a year, according to the FAO.

Shops, restaurants and households past propulsion distant astir a 5th of the nutrient disposable to consumers, astir 1.05 cardinal tonnes successful 2022, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). That is equivalent to 52.5 cardinal trucks, each carrying 20 tonnes.

Households relationship for the most, 60 percent, followed by restaurants and different nutrient services astatine 28 percent and shops astatine 12 percent.

How to trim nutrient discarded astatine home

Most nutrient discarded happens astatine home, which means households tin marque a existent difference. Here are immoderate elemental steps recommended by nutrient discarded campaigners and UN agencies:

1. Plan earlier you shop: Check what you already have, program meals for the week and store with a database to debar buying much than you need.
2. Understand day labels: “Use by” dates are astir safety, but “best before” dates are astir quality. Food is often inactive harmless to devour aft its “best before” date.
3. Store nutrient properly: Keep your fridge astatine 5C (41F) oregon below, and store effect and vegetables wherever they past longest. Bananas, for example, velocity up the ripening of different effect nearby.
4. Use the freezer: Bread, cooked meals, nutrient and galore fruits and vegetables tin beryllium frozen earlier they spell off.
5. Cook the close amount: Measuring portions, particularly for atom and pasta, cuts down connected leftovers that get thrown away.
6. Eat the oldest nutrient first: Move older items to the beforehand of the fridge and cupboard truthful they get utilized earlier newer ones.
7. Use leftovers and scraps: Turn leftovers into caller meals, and usage rootlike peels and stalks successful soups and stocks.
8. Compost what you can’t eat: Composting inedible parts specified arsenic peels and eggshells keeps them retired of landfills, wherever rotting nutrient releases methane.

A ‘best before’ statement connected Heinz babe nutrient tells shoppers erstwhile the merchandise is astatine its champion quality, not erstwhile it stops being harmless to devour [Anthony Devlin/Getty Images]

Which state wastes the most?

On average, each idiosyncratic successful the satellite wastes astir 132kg (291 pounds) of nutrient a year, astir the value of 2 adults. Of that, 79kg (174 pounds) was thrown distant astatine home.

But the magnitude varies widely. Hotter countries thin to discarded much astatine home, UNEP says, perchance due to the fact that of much caller nutrient and little refrigeration.

The Maldives wastes the astir food, with each idiosyncratic throwing distant astir 260kg (573 pounds) a year, astir doubly the planetary average. Syria, the Dominican Republic, Seychelles, Mexico and Tunisia follow, each wasting much than 210kg (463 pounds) per person, according to UN estimates.

Spain recorded immoderate of the lowest levels, astatine astir 39kg (86 pounds) oregon little per person.

What does nutrient discarded cost?

Food nonaccomplishment and discarded costs the planetary system much than $1 trillion a year, according to the UN.

To enactment that successful perspective, what other could $1 trillion buy?

Use the + buttons to adhd items to your cart and spot however the wealth would beryllium spent crossed 35 categories.

Throwing nutrient distant besides wastes the money, onshore and vigor utilized to nutrient it.

About 1.4 cardinal hectares (3.5 cardinal acres) of land, oregon 28 percent of the world’s cultivation land, is utilized to turn nutrient that is ne'er eaten. That is an country larger than Canada.

Food nonaccomplishment and discarded besides make an estimated 8 to 10 percent of planetary greenhouse state emissions, including methane released arsenic nutrient rots successful landfills.