Bangladesh households waste 14.10 million tonnes of food per year: Report

Every year 14.10 million tonnes of food is wasted by households in Bangladesh, says a report.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its "Food Waste Index Report 2024" on Wednesday.

According to the report, an estimated 82kg of food is wasted by a person in a Bangladesh home per year which is much higher than that in rich countries like the United States (73kg), Netherlands (59kg) and Japan (60kg).

The amount of food wasted in some developed countries by a person in a home per year is 76kg in China, 71kg in Belgium, 61kg in New Zealand, and 33kg in Russia.

Bhutan households waste 19kg of food per person per year, which is the least among South Asian countries, followed by India (55kg), Sri Lanka (76kg) and Bangladesh.

The Maldives households waste 207kg of food per person per year, the highest in the region followed by Pakistan (130kg), Afghanistan (127kg) and Nepal (93kg).

The report said food waste is not just a "rich country" problem, with levels of household food waste differing in observed average levels for high-income, upper-middle, and lower-middle-income countries by just 7kg per capita.

At the same time, hotter countries appear to generate more food waste per capita in households, potentially due to higher consumption of fresh foods with substantial inedible parts and a lack of robust cold chains.