UN: Over one billion tonnes of food wasted worldwide every year

NEW YORK: More than one billion tonnes of food is wasted around the world every year. A United Nations report says 645 million people went hungry in 2025.

According to the UN Environment Programme, 1.05 billion tonnes of food was wasted in 2022. Households accounted for 60 per cent of it, hotels and other food outlets for 28 per cent, and shops for 12 per cent. In addition, 13 per cent of the food produced is lost before it reaches shops.

Waste per person

According to UN estimates, each person in the world wastes an average of 132 kilograms of food a year. In the Maldives, the figure is 260 kilograms per person. In Syria, the Dominican Republic, Seychelles, Mexico and Tunisia, too, more than 210 kilograms of food per person is wasted every year.

State of hunger

According to the 2026 Global Hunger Index report, 309 million people in Africa, 292 million in Asia and 32 million in Latin America and the Caribbean suffered from food shortages in 2025. The hunger situation is alarming in eight countries, seven of them in Africa.

According to the UN, food waste costs the global economy more than $1 trillion a year. It also adds 8 to 10 per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions.

Experts cited in the report say making a list before shopping, storing food properly, cooking only as much as needed and reusing leftovers are effective ways to reduce waste.