With global food systems under mounting pressure, the scale of food waste is becoming one of the defining issues of our time. The UK is no exception, with the latest figures estimating total annual wasted food at 10.2 million tonnes, with six million coming from households.¹

Despite the growing focus on food waste reduction, there are still many changes required if we’re to successfully tackle the environmental crisis and build towards a net-zero future.

We’ve compiled a food waste statistics report examining the scale of this problem. Tackling the issue of food waste is something we can’t ignore.

We’ll cover everything from global production to the most common types of food waste while highlighting the preventative measures being taken to help reverse the trend.

How much food waste is produced each year?

Over a third of all food produced globally is wasted. This figure is considered a conservative estimate, with more recent data suggesting that the percentage of lost or wasted food could be as high as 40%.^5,6

This means that the amount of wasted food we produce would be big enough to fill an area of land larger than China.⁵ Elsewhere, a report from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) claims that 1.6 billion tonnes of food are lost or wasted globally each year – worth roughly $1.2 trillion.^7,8

Despite the huge volumes of food waste, nearly one in three people worldwide lives with some level of food insecurity. This highlights a significant lack of resourcefulness among global food systems, a fact that becomes even more concerning when considering that food waste is linked to 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions.⁵

While the United Nations (UN) has set a goal to halve retail and consumer food waste per capita globally by 2030, it’s estimated that just 12% of the population lives in countries that track their food waste.^5,9

How much food waste is generated in Europe?

A 2024 report from Eurostat revealed that over 59 million tonnes of food waste per year were generated across EU nations. This is 132kg per person, equating to an estimated value of €132 billion.¹⁰

This problem is compounded by the fact that over 42 million people in Europe can’t afford a quality meal every other day.¹⁰

How much food do we waste in the UK?

A 2025 report from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) estimated that the UK wasted 10.2 million tonnes of food between 2021 and 2022.¹ Around 7.5 million UK residents lived in households experiencing food poverty between 2023 and 2024 – around 11% of the population and 18% of children.¹¹

What’s more, an estimated 18 million tonnes of CO2 is generated from UK food and drink waste each year. This highlights the significant economic and environmental benefits the UK could have by improving its food waste management.¹²

Despite this, there have been encouraging trends in recent years. Data from WRAP showed that UK households threw away around a quarter (24%) less food per capita in 2022 than in 2007.¹

How much food waste is generated from UK households?

In total, approximately six million tonnes of UK food waste came from households between 2021 and 2022 – around 58% of the overall total.¹ Of the food thrown away, around 73% (or 4.4 million tonnes) could’ve been eaten.¹ 

The average UK person wastes food equal to around three meals per week. This equates to a total value of over £17 billion, meaning the average four-person household loses around £1,000 per year from edible food waste.¹

Total annual UK household food waste and the percentage that could’ve been eaten

IMAGE 5 HERE

To put this in perspective, the wasted household food that could be eaten would be enough to fill:¹

• 8 Wembley Stadiums 

• 88 Royal Albert Halls

• 3,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools

• 470,000 bin lorries

• 36 million wheelie bins (based on a standard 240 litre bin)

Why do people waste food at home?

WRAP’s food waste statistics show that the main reason households throw away edible food is that too much was cooked or prepared. Nearly 1.1 million tonnes of food waste came from residents cooking, preparing, or serving too much, 25% of the overall total.¹ 

Overall, this food is worth almost £5 billion, highlighting the financial benefits of effective portion control.¹ While portion management is more commonly associated with benefits like weight loss and nutritional health, reducing surplus food while preparing meals can result in less waste and a reduction in your supermarket spending.

The most common reasons for throwing away household food in the UK

(Source: WRAP)

Just under a million tonnes (977,000) of food was thrown away out of ‘personal preference’. This suggests that at least £3.25 million worth of food was discarded when it was likely still fine to eat.¹ 

By comparison, 953,000 tonnes of food waste was food that smelled or looked off – 22% of the overall total.