Food balance sheets 2010–2021. Global, regional and country trends
27/10/2023
The Statistics Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) compiles food balance sheet (FBS) statistics for 187 countries, which present a comprehensive picture of the agrifood situation of a country in a specified reference period, showing the pattern of a country's food supply and utilizations.
The new release of the 2021 FBS data comprises recompiled time series from 2010 to 2021, using new conversion factors and population estimates.
The new conversion factors, used to compute kilocalories (kcal), proteins and fats per capita, are the result of a joint project with FAO's Food and Nutrition Division, which updated food composition tables for all items. The population data come from the latest World Population Prospects published by the United Nations Population Division in 2022. Because of these updates, some series have been significantly revised, either in terms of the historical trend or absolute levels. An additional update concerns the revision of extraction rates2 for cereals and fruit juices. The new data have been obtained through memoranda of understanding with specialized organizations: the International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC) and the International Fruit and Vegetable Juice Association (IFU).
The latest FAOSTAT analytical brief provides the main highlights from the data, focusing on the period 2010-2021. Data show that global food supply, measured by the per capita dietary energy supply, increased by 5 percent between 2010 and 2021, to 2 978 kcal/cap/day.
Download FAOSTAT Analytical brief
