U.N. report finds world wastes 19% of food, an increase from 2021

NAIROBI, Kenya — The world wasted an estimated 19% of the food produced globally in 2022, or about 1.05 billion metric tons, according to a new United Nations report.

The U.N. Environment Programme’s Food Waste Index Report, published Wednesday, tracks the progress of countries to halve food waste by 2030.

The U.N. said the number of countries reporting for the index nearly doubled from the first report in 2021. The 2021 report estimated 17% of the food produced globally in 2019, or 1.03 billion tons, was wasted, but authors warned against direct comparisons because of the lack of sufficient data from many countries.

Researchers analyzed country data on households, food service and retailers. They found that each person wastes about 174 pounds of food annually, equal to at least 1 billion meals wasted worldwide daily.