A person throwing the food from the plate into a garbage bin.

In 2022, around 132 kilogrammes (kg) of food per inhabitant were wasted in the EU. In total, the EU generated 59.2 million tonnes of food waste, which includes edible and inedible parts. 

Household waste accounted for 54% of all food waste, the equivalent of 72 kg per inhabitant. The remaining 46% was waste generated upwards in the food supply chain: 19% by the manufacture of food products and beverages (25 kg per inhabitant), 11% by restaurants and food services (15 kg per inhabitant), 8% in the retail and other distribution of food (11 kg per inhabitant), and 8% in the primary production (10 kg per inhabitant). 

Food waste in the EU by main economic sector, 2022, kg per inhabitant. Chart. See link to full dataset below.

Source dataset: env_wasfw

This information is based on the food waste reporting obligation established in the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) by sector of activity according to the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (NACE rev. 2) and by households. 

This article highlights the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste, marked on 29 September. 

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Methodological notes

  • The Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) establishes an annual reporting obligation on measurements of the levels of food waste; the Commission delegated decision (EU) 2019/1597 defines the common methodology and minimum quality requirements for the uniform measurement of levels of food waste and the Commission implementing decision (EU) 2019/2000 provides the reporting format.
  • Data not available for Greece, Spain, Lithuania and Romania. Eurostat has estimated the EU aggregates on the basis of data provided by the reporting countries.
  • Food waste consists of parts of food intended to be ingested (edible food) and parts of food not intended to be ingested (inedible food). Food waste is any food that has become waste under these conditions: it has entered the food supply chain, it has then been removed or discarded from the food supply chain or at the final consumption stage, it is finally destined to be processed as waste. 

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