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Food Consumption and Spending
September-December 1999
13
I
ncreasing incomes in manycountries boosted world aver-age calorie consumption torecord levels in 1995-97. Yet not allcountries saw significant gains infood consumption, reflecting con-tinued disparity in purchasingpower between the poorest coun-tries and most other countries.Average daily consumptionreached 2,754 calories per person in1995-97, marking a 0.6 percent peryear increase from the 1970-72 levelof 2,413 calories (table 1). Growthin world calorie consumption between 1986-88 and 1995-97 wassomewhat slower relative to thelonger term trend, averaging 0.5percent per year. Calorie consump-tion does not record actual intakeof food, but, rather, is a measure ofthe calories and food quantitiesavailable for human consumption(see box, “Food Balance SheetData”).Along with the growth camesome notable changes in the com-position of the world’s diet, whichmainly were a reflection of risingincomes worldwide. The share ofcalories from starchy roots andpulses fell 30 percent and the sharefrom animal fats dropped 24 per-cent from 1970-72 to 1995-97. Con-versely, the share of calories fromvegetable oils jumped 46 percentand the share from meats climbed33 percent.However, not all countriesshared in this prosperity. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, percapita calorie consumption hasincreased only in the mid-1990’safter virtually stagnating since1970. Despite the recent growth,
Most–But Not All–RegionsSee Food Gains
Stacey Rosen(202) 694-5164slrosen@econ.ag.gov
The author is an economist with the Market andTrade Economics Division, Economic ResearchService, USDA.
Food consumption trends for1970-97 are based on the UnitedNations Food and AgricultureOrganization (FAO) Agrostat data- base, which includes annual foodproduction, trade, and consump-tion estimates for most countriesand world regions. Per capita foodconsumption is estimated at thenational level using a type of food balance sheet because conductingindividual or household-levelfood consumption surveys would be too costly for many countries.Food balance sheets provideinformation about a country’saverage per capita daily food sup-ply, based on commodity flowsfrom production to end uses. Thetotal supply of each commodityconsists of domestic production,imports, and drawdowns fromexisting stocks. The food balancesheet is not a measure of actualfood consumption because it doesnot account for losses due to foodpreparation or waste. The foodsupply is estimated from theamount left over after subtractingother uses from available supplies,such as exports, seed use, live-stock feed, food and nonfoodmanufacturing, farm waste, andmarketing waste due to transportand retail losses. Per capita foodconsumption is then estimated bydividing the total food supply bythe resident population of a givencountry.Food balance sheets are mostuseful as a tool for measuringlong-term trends in national foodavailability and food composition,and for comparing food use withnutritional requirements. They arealso useful for determining theextent to which countries rely onfood imports to meet their nutri-tional needs. However, thenational averages presented in thefood balance sheet may maskimportant deviations from trendsin energy and nutrient intakeamong individuals, households,and population groups within aparticular country.
Food Balance Sheet Data
FoodReview Volume 22,Issue 3
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Food Consumption and Spending
per capita consumption averagedonly 2,176 calories per day in theregion in 1995-97, 20 percent belowthe world average.
Regional Gains Vary
As economies grew and changed,food consumption in differentregions changed accordingly (see box, “World Regions”). U.S. con-sumption accelerated between 1970and 1997, with yearly growthexceeding 1 percent between 1986-88 and 1995-97. The quantity ofcalories available for consumptionin the United States is by far thehighest in the world, averaging3,654 in 1995-97, surpassing theworld average by more than 30percent. Along with the UnitedStates, relative prosperity in therest of the industrialized countriesallowed calorie consumption togrow modestly during the last twoand a half decades (0.4 percent peryear), averaging 3,364 in 1995-97.In the European Union, consump-tion held steady during the lastdecade, averaging just under 3,400calories per day in 1995-97.Per capita calorie consumptionincreased twice as fast in develop-ing countries than in industrializedcountries, despite higher popula-tion growth in developing coun-tries. In part, this increase was dueto the fact that the developingcountries started from very lowconsumption levels. Some develop-ing countries’ adoption of high-yielding crop varieties and/orincreased use of irrigated landspurred production, which in turn boosted food supplies. For exam-ple, Indonesia’s more than 50-per-cent increase in calorie consump-tion was certainly supported by adoubling of grain yields from 1970to 1998.The North African countries—Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco,and Tunisia—led the way with themost significant increase in calorieconsumption between 1970 and1997, 1.4 percent annually. Most ofthis growth took place in the 1970’sand early 1980’s as increased oilrevenues raised incomes and boosted consumption in Algeria,Egypt, and Libya. Growth in calo-rie consumption for the NorthAfrican countries dropped to lessthan 0.7 percent per year between1986-88 and 1995-97.In Asia’s developing countries,calorie consumption jumped morethan 1 percent per year between1970 and 1997 due to strong gainsin agricultural output. Unlike inNorth Africa, growth in calorieconsumption in developing coun-tries in Asia has not slowed at all inrecent years and remains, alongwith the United States, steady atthe highest rate in the world. Aver-age calorie consumption in thedeveloping countries of Asia stoodat 2,648 calories per person in1995-97.Eastern Europe is the only regionincluded in this study where calo-rie consumption declined duringthe last two and half decades. Percapita calorie consumption fellfrom 3,416 calories per day in 1986-88 to 3,119 calories in 1995-97.Declines in calorie consumption,which began in the mid-1980’s, can be attributed to stagnating and/ordeclining incomes triggered by thetransition from centrally plannedeconomies to free markets.
Countries are grouped accordingto economic and geographic regionsdefined by the United Nations Foodand Agriculture Organization.
Developed Countries
Industrialized countries—
UnitedStates, Canada, Japan, the EuropeanUnion (Austria, Belgium-Luxem- bourg, Denmark, Finland, France,Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, theNetherlands, Portugal, Spain, Swe-den, and United Kingdom), Aus-tralia, Iceland, Israel, Malta, NewZealand, Norway, and South Africa.
Eastern Europe—
Albania, Bul-garia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hun-gary, Croatia, Macedonia, CzechRepublic, Poland, Romania,Yugoslavia, Slovenia, and Slovakia.
Developing Countries
North Africa—
Algeria, Egypt,Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.
Sub-Saharan Africa—
Angola,Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso,Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde,Central Africa Republic, Chad,Comoros, Republic of Congo,Democratic Republic of Congo,Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, EquatorialGuinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon,The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea,Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho,Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali,Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozam- bique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria,Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe,Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone,Somalia, the Sudan, Swaziland,Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Yemen,Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Asia—
Afghanistan, Bangladesh,Brunei, Myanmar, Sri Lanka,Cyprus, China, India, Indonesia,Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Cambodia, NorthKorea, South Korea, Kuwait, Laos,Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Mal-dives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan,thePhilippines,SaudiArabia, Syria,Thailand, Turkey, United ArabEmi-rates,Vietnam,andYemen.
Latin America—
The Caribbean(including Cuba), Argentina,Bolivia, Brazil, Belize, Chile, Colom- bia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Sal-vador, Guatemala, Guyana, Hon-duras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay,and Venezuela.
Other developing countries—
Solomon Islands, Fiji Islands,French Polynesia, Kiribati, NewCaledonia, Vanuatu, and PapuaNew Guinea.
World Regions
Food Consumption and Spending
September-December 1999
15
While Cereals Remaineda Staple,Starchy Rootsand Pulses Dropped
Cereals comprise roughly half ofthe world’s diet (in terms of shareof calories), virtually unchangedduring the last two and halfdecades. Some noteworthy changesin other components of the world’sdiet, however, reflect rising worldincomes and, in some cases, height-ened awareness of healthier eatinghabits. The share of starchy rootsand pulses in the total diet declinedsignificantly, from more than 10percent in 1970-72 to just over 7percent in 1995-97, reflecting higherincomes (table 1, fig. 1).Starchyroots and pulses, such as potatoesand beans, are generally consideredinferior foods, and thereforedemand is expected to fall asincomes rise.Declines in the world averageshare of calories were smaller inthe sugars and sweeteners categoryas well as animal fats (butter, lard,fish oils, and edible tallow). Con-versely, the meat and poultry, veg-etable oils, and fruit and vegetablecomponents of the diet increasedsignificantly.
Table 1
Developing Countries’Diets More Varied; Calories From Cereals Lower,Higher From Meat andVegetable Oils
Starchy Fruits Sugar Milkroots and and Meat and Fish Vege-Total and vege- sweet- and other and table AnimalRegion foods Cereals pulses tables eners poultry dairy seafood oils fats
Average calories per personPercent of total calories
World:1970-72 2,413 50.4 10.3 4.1 9.2 6.3 4.7 0.9 5.8 2.91995-97 2,754 49.9 7.2 4.8 8.6 8.4 4.2 1.0 8.5 2.2Industrial:1970-72 3,049 27.8 5.1 5.3 14.3 12.0 8.8 1.5 10.2 6.11995-97 3,364 27.2 4.4 5.5 13.4 14.0 8.8 1.7 13.5 4.6U.S.:1970-72 3,008 19.5 4.1 4.8 19.2 15.2 11.2 .7 13.0 4.91995-97 3,654 23.4 3.9 5.4 18.0 16.4 10.3 .8 15.0 3.2EU:1970-72 3,187 26.4 6.3 5.7 11.9 12.0 8.9 1.0 10.4 7.81995-97 3,394 24.5 5.2 6.0 10.9 14.3 9.4 1.2 14.0 6.6Eastern Europe:1970-72 3,322 42.8 7.0 3.8 10.3 8.4 7.8 .5 5.6 8.01995-97 3,119 36.8 6.2 4.9 10.8 11.0 8.5 .5 8.9 6.0Developing countries:1970-72 2,118 61.1 12.9 3.8 6.5 3.6 2.3 .6 4.3 1.01995-97 2,621 56.3 7.9 4.7 7.2 6.9 2.7 .8 7.4 1.3North Africa:1970-72 2,307 64.3 3.6 5.6 8.6 2.8 2.6 .3 8.5 1.01995-97 3,187 62.2 4.0 5.9 9.2 3.6 2.5 .5 9.0 .7Sub-Saharan Africa:1970-72 2,063 43.5 26.0 6.0 3.7 3.0 2.4 .7 6.7 .61995-97 2,176 46.2 23.8 5.4 3.9 2.9 2.4 .6 8.4 .5Asia,developing:1970-72 2,068 67.1 11.5 2.9 5.3 3.0 1.7 .6 3.4 .91995-97 2,648 60.4 5.8 4.4 6.1 6.9 2.2 .9 6.7 1.3Latin America andCaribbean:1970-72 2,483 39.3 12.5 6.3 15.8 7.7 5.3 .5 6.1 2.21995-97 2,791 36.9 8.3 5.5 16.9 10.9 6.1 .6 10.4 2.0
Source: Calculated by USDA’s Economic Research Service from UN Food and Agriculture Organization data.
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