While you might think that spending more on food is a positive statistic, the 25 countries that spend the most on food can assure you that isn’t true. Food is a precious commodity, and even though the world produces enough food to feed every single one of the 7 billion people in the world, over 800 million people are starving because the resources are not used or allocated evenly across the globe. If you want to know about the top meat consuming countries on the other hand, you can simply go to the 10 countries that eat the most meat.
The countries that spend a high portion of their total income are generally developing countries. These include the likes of Pakistan, where people spend over 40% of their income on food alone. However, that does not mean that they spend more than most countries do. In fact, they only spend $923 per annum per person on food, which is considerably low, especially when compared with other countries which spend thousands of dollars per person per annum on food. However, since the per capita income is extremely low in Pakistan while inflation has ensured that the cost of food is high, a large portion of their income is spent on food alone, leaving little for anything else.
The above example shows that there is a stark contrast between the percentage of income spent on food when compared with the total money spent on food by countries. Hence, while either criterion fails to grasp properly the 25 countries that spend the most on food, combining both criteria, and then creating a unique ranking will allow for a clearer picture, which is exactly why this is the methodology followed by us. Combining both criteria has allowed for the biases of each criterion to be cancelled out by the other, resulting in unique and substantially more accurate rankings as well. We used information collected by the United States Department of Agriculture in 86 countries worldwide to assist in our rankings.
25. Norway
Percentage of income spent on food: 12.3
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 74
Total amount spent on food: $4,454
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 1
Rubio Lu/Shutterstock.com
24. United Arab Emirates
Percentage of income spent on food: 13.9%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 65
Total amount spent on food: $3,329
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 4
AS Food studio/Shutterstock.com
23. Hong Kong
Percentage of income spent on food: 14.2%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 64
Total amount spent on food: $3,931
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 2
martinho Smart/Shutterstock.com
22. New Zealand
Percentage of income spent on food: 15.1%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 60
Total amount spent on food: $2,674
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 3
_LeS_ /Shutterstock.com
21. Greece
Percentage of income spent on food: 16.5%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 55
Total amount spent on food: 2,647
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 7
Karl Allgaeuer/Shutterstock.com
20. Uruguay
Percentage of income spent on food: 18.3
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 50
Total amount spent on food: $2,042
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 11
Matyas Rehak/Shutterstock.om
19. Turkey
Percentage of income spent on food: 21.6%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 38
Total amount spent on food: $1,636
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 18
18. Argentina
Percentage of income spent on food: 20.5%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 39
Total amount spent on food: $1,701
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 17
17. Estonia
Percentage of income spent on food: 19.2%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 44
Total amount spent on food: $2,046
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 10
Maksimilian/Shutterstock.com
16. Portugal
Percentage of income spent on food: 28%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 27
Total amount spent on food: $1,719
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 16
15. Mexico
Percentage of income spent on food: 23.3%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 34
Total amount spent on food: $1,721
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 15
13. Saudi Arabia
Percentage of income spent on food: 25.3%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 30
Total amount spent on food: $1,883
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 14
13. Lithuania
Percentage of income spent on food: 23.2%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 35
Total amount spent on food: $2,454
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 9
Virginija Valatkiene/Shutterstock.com
12. Romania
Percentage of income spent on food: 28%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 27
Total amount spent on food: $1,719
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 16
11. Macedonia
Percentage of income spent on food: 33.8%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 18
Total amount spent on food: $1,337
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 24
Mile Atanasov/Shutterstock.com
10. Russia
Percentage of income spent on food: 29.4%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 24
Total amount spent on food: $1,935
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 12
7. Guatemala
Percentage of income spent on food: 40.4%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 9
Total amount spent on food: $1,296
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 25
7. Belarus
Percentage of income spent on food: 36.9%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 13
Total amount spent on food: $1,486
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 21
Liliya Kandrashevich/Shutterstock.com
7. Peru
Percentage of income spent on food: 36.4%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 14
Total amount spent on food: $1,532
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 20
Vlad Karavaev/Shutterstock.com
6. Turkmenistan
Percentage of income spent on food: 38.5%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 10
Total amount spent on food: $1,461
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 22
velirina/Shutterstock.com
5. Croatia
Percentage of income spent on food: 30.8%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 22
Total amount spent on food: $2,908
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 5
Nadezhda1906/Shutterstock.com
3. Nigeria
Percentage of income spent on food: 56.6%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 1
Total amount spent on food: $1,343
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 23
Fanfo/Shutterstock.com
3. Jordan
Percentage of income spent on food: 37.8%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 11
Total amount spent on food: $1,888
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 13
Piccia Neri/Shutterstock.com
2. Azerbaijan
Percentage of income spent on food: 44.3%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 4
Total amount spent on food: $1,604
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 19
Ramil Aliyev/Shutterstock.com
1. Kazakhstan
Percentage of income spent on food: 43.3%
Ranking according to percentage of income spent on food: 5
Total amount spent on food: $2,573
Ranking according to total amount spent on food: 8
Pikoso.kz/Shutterstock.com
