Which countries waste the most food, and how to reduce waste at home

Roughly one in five plates of food served worldwide ends up in the bin, adding up to more than a billion tonnes a year, while 645 million people went hungry in 2025. Global hunger has fallen for a third consecutive year to 7.8 percent of the population, but remains 61 million people higher than in 2019. Africa is the hardest-hit region, with 309 million people undernourished in 2025, compared with 292 million in Asia and 32 million in Latin America and the Caribbean. For World Food Day, the UN is calling for innovation to feed more people and waste less food.