A Bangladeshi wastes an estimated 82kg of food annually, which is significantly more than the amount wasted in prosperous nations like the USA 73kg, the Russia 33kg, and China 76kg.
According to the "Food Waste Index Report 2024" released by the Nairobi based United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), households in Bangladesh waste 14.10 million tons of food annually.
As per Food waste Index Report 2021, Bangladeshis waste 65kg of food at home per year, amounting to 10.62 million tons of household food waste in the country.
Among South Asian Countries, India households waste 55kg of food per person annually, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh 76kg, Pakistan 130kg, Afghanistan 127kg and Nepal 93kg.
Maldives households waste 207kg of food per person annually, highest in the region.
While, Bhutan households waste 19kg of food per person annually, lowest in the region.
Food waste has been worse than previously estimated as $1 trillion worth of food is wasted every year.
The food waste generates an estimated 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions (including from both loss and waste), and it takes up the equivalent of nearly 30% of the world’s agricultural land.
The 2024 research, co-authored with WRAP, offers the most precise worldwide assessment of food waste at the retail and consumer levels. It advises governments on how to improve data collecting and proposes best practices for transitioning from monitoring to decreasing food waste.
According to UN projections, homes across all continents wasted almost 1 billion meals each day in 2022, while 783 million people remained hungry and one-third of humankind experienced food insecurity.
The wasting of food is a worldwide catastrophe. Due to global food waste, millions of people will go hungry at present, according to UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.
Not only is this a big development concern, but the consequences of such unnecessary waste are incurring significant costs to the environment and wildlife, he said.
As per the report, food waste is not merely a "rich country" problem, with reported average levels of household food waste varied by just 7kg per capita across high-income, upper-middle, and lower-middle-income countries.