World Food Day 2025: 23 Shocking Facts About Food Waste

The scale of global food waste is staggering—a hidden crisis that costs the world trillions of dollars annually while simultaneously driving the climate emergency. To celebrate World Food Day 2025, Earth.Org has compiled 23 critical facts that reveal the hidden costs of our throwing-out culture and underscore why tackling food waste is essential for a sustainable future.

—

1. Every year, approximately 25-30% of all food produced worldwide – some 1.6 billion tons – is wasted. This amounts to one billion meals a day, according to the UN.

2. Of the total food wasted in 2022 – some 1.05 billion tons – households were responsible for 631 million tonnes (60%), the food service sector for 290 million tons and the retail sector for 131 million tons.

3. Households waste over 1 billion meals worth of edible food daily. This equals to approximately 1.3 meals every day for everyone in the world facing hunger.

4. In 2019, the US generated 66 million tons of wasted food in the food retail, food service, and residential sectors. That’s almost 40% of the country’s entire food supply. Some 60% of this waste was sent to landfills.

5. Agriculture is a huge consumer of water, accounting for nearly 92% of the global water footprint. UN figures indicate that the water used to produce discarded food constituted 24% of the total water volume used for production.

6. Taking into account all the resources used to grow food, scientists have calculated that food waste in the US uses up to 21% of freshwater, 19% of fertilizer, 18% of cropland, and 21% of landfill volume.

7. The food currently wasted in Europe could feed 200 million people, in Latin America 300 million people, and in Africa 300 million people. 

8. Developed and developing countries waste or lose roughly the same amount of food every year, at 670 and 630 million tons, respectively.

9. High-income, upper-middle income, and lower-middle income countries differ in observed average levels of household food waste by just 7 kilograms per capita per year.

10. Breaking it down by food group, losses, and waste per year are roughly 30% for cereals, 40-50% for root crops and fruit and vegetables, 20% for oil seed and meat and dairy, and 35% for fish. 

You might also like: 11 Effective Solutions for Food Waste

11. While an estimated 735 million people go hungry globally, food loss and waste generate 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions – almost five times the total emissions from the aviation sector. If food loss was a country, it would be the third-largest greenhouse gas emitter, behind China and the US.

12. To meet global food needs, by 2050, food production will have to increase by 70% from today’s levels. Annual cereal production will need to rise to about 3 billion tonnes from 2.1 billion today and annual meat production will need to rise by over 200 million tonnes to reach 470 million tonnes.

13. Food losses translate into lost income for farmers and higher prices for consumers, giving us an economic incentive to reduce food waste. 

14. Globally, an area larger than China and 25% of the world’s freshwater supply are used to grow food that is never eaten.

15. In China, more than 35 million tonnes of food – equivalent to about 6% of the country’s total food production – are lost or wasted in the country annually. Food loss primarily occurs in restaurants and households as Chinese culture sees hosts order more food rather than less to show hospitality to their guests.

16. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals aim to halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer level and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses. 

17. Promotions in supermarkets may lead to more food waste; we may buy more food that we do not necessarily need if we think we are getting more for our money. 

You might also like: 6 Must-See Documentaries About Food Waste

18. According to a survey conducted by Respect Food, 63% of people do not know the difference between the “use by” and “best before” dates. Foods with “use by” dates are perishable and must be eaten before the given date. Foods with “best before” dates can be eaten after the given date, but they will not be of the best quality. 

19. At the retail level, large quantities of food are wasted because of an emphasis on appearance half of all produce is thrown away in the US because it is deemed too “ugly” to eat; this amounts to 60 million tons of fruits and vegetables. 

20. In Europe, 40-60% of fish caught are discarded because they do not meet supermarket quality standards.

21. In the US, organic waste is the largest source of methane emissions, a greenhouse gas that has 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide.

22. Emerging new internet trends such as “Mukbang”, where personalities and social media influencers livestream videos of themselves binge-eating, are leading to excess food waste.

23. One of the most environmentally friendly methods for dealing with personal food waste is composting, a medium- to large-scale process that involves outdoor space, large wooden composting structures, and regular tending. 

More on the topic: Composting Guide for Restricted Living Environments 

Featured image: Wikimedia Commons.