Top 20 Countries That Eat the Most and Least Calories Per Person Each Day
How much does the average person eat in a day? There are many factors that influence average calorie consumption, including where a person lives. On average, Western countries eat more calories daily, with Belgium, the United States, and Ireland taking the lead. Do the countries that eat the most correlate with countries that have the best food? It is true that Belgium is famous for its decadent cheese, mussels, waffles, and chocolate! “Frites” (fries) are another beloved Belgian delicacy. In fact, Belgians were urged to eat more fries during coronavirus lockdowns to help struggling potato growers, and many happily obliged. This infographic from How To Cook Recipes explores calorie consumption around the world:
Here are the top 15 countries that eat the most calories per capita daily:
- Belgium: 3,768 calories per day
- United States: 3,766 calories per day
- Ireland: 3,717 calories per day
- Austria: 3,692 calories per day
- Luxembourg: 3,670 calories per day
- Iceland: 3,628 calories per day
- France: 3,558 calories per day
- Germany: 3,556 calories per day
- Turkey: 3,540 calories per day
- Poland: 3,525 calories per day
- Romania: 3,525 calories per day
- Italy: 3,522 calories per day
- Israel: 3,509 calories per day
- Portugal: 3,492 calories per day
- Canada: 3,492 calories per day
Which country has the least amount of food? Here are the top 15 countries that eat the fewest calories per capita daily:
- Ethiopia: 1,557 calories per day
- Central African Republic: 1,758 calories per day
- Madagascar: 1,903 calories per day
- Afghanistan: 2,000 calories per day
- Zambia: 2,013 calories per day
- North Korea: 2,032 calories per day
- Bahamas: 2,043 calories per day
- Yemen: 2,063 calories per day
- Chad: 2,090 calories per day
- Tajikistan: 2,104 calories per day
- Kenya: 2,124 calories per day
- Liberia: 2,132 calories per day
- Timor: 2,140 calories per day
- Uganda: 2,144 calories per day
- Haiti: 2,164 calories per day
The contrast between the calories consumed in these countries and in the countries that eat the most calories daily is staggering. This information is invaluable for helping to guide anti-poverty efforts by highlighting where food insecurity is the most prevalent in the world.
Do countries that eat the most also have the highest obesity rates? Not necessarily. Here are the 15 countries with the highest obesity rates, which reveal that global obesity rates are influenced by many other factors besides average calorie intake:
- Nauru: 61% of adults are obese
- Cook Islands: 55.9% of adults are obese
- Palau: 55.3% of adults are obese
- Marshall Islands: 52.9% of adults are obese
- Tuvalu: 51.6% of adults are obese
- Niue: 50% of adults are obese
- Tonga: 48.2% of adults are obese
- Samoa: 47.3% of adults are obese
- Kiribati: 46.0% of adults are obese
- Federal States of Micronesia: 45.8% of adults are obese
- Kuwait: 37.9% of adults are obese
- United States of America: 36.2% of adults are obese
- Jordan: 35.5% of adults are obese
- Saudi Arabia: 35.4% of adults are obese
- Qatar: 35.1% of adults are obese
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This page was last updated by Megan Miller