According to data compiled by the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, Switzerland has the highest spending on food in the world. It averaged $4,313 (€4,016) per capita in 2021.
This is followed by Norway ($4,093), Israel ($3,997), Denmark ($3,727) and Hong Kong ($3,672). With 3,234 dollars (3,011 euros) of budget dedicated to food in 2021, France ranks eleventh in the world, the United States in fourteenth place ($3,070).
At the other end of the scale is Tanzania, where per capita food expenditure was just $180 in 2021, preceded by Ethiopia ($245) and Uganda ($293).
It is in the United States that the share of expenditure on food as a proportion of total household expenditure is lowest. It is only 6.7%. This is followed by Singapore (8.4%), the United Kingdom (8.7%) and Ireland (9.2%). At the other end of the scale, food accounts for 59% of household budgets in Nigeria, 56.6% in Myanmar, 56.1% in Kenya and 52.7% in Bangladesh.
At the end of the 19th century, the French spent on average two-thirds of their budget on food. This share was still 44% in 1949, 35% in 1960 and 26% in 1973.
