Greece is among Europe’s Top 3 Food Wasters

Greece ranks among Europe’s top food wasters, with each resident discarding an average of 201 kilograms of food annually, according to EUROSTAT data released on Thursday, October 16, 2025. The country holds the third-worst position in the European Union, behind Cyprus and Denmark, even as the cost of living continues to climb and households face growing financial strain.

Note than according to Greek Statistics Authority (ELSTAT) 7% of the population in the country faces moderate or severe food insecurity.

Annual food waste amounted to 201 kilograms/capita in Greece in 2023, when the average in the European Union is considerably lower – 130 kg/capita per year.

In 2023, Greece threw away more than 2.09 million tons of food. Nearly half of that waste — around 44 percent — came from households, while the rest was generated by food production, processing, retail, and the restaurant sector. Despite a slight improvement compared to 2020, when per capita waste stood at 191 kilograms, the overall volume remains alarmingly high.

Although the data suggests some growing awareness, much of the reduction in waste is attributed to economic pressure rather than environmental consciousness. Rising prices have pushed households to be more cautious — cooking smaller portions, storing leftovers, and managing food supplies more carefully.

The lack of effective policy measures remains a major barrier to progress. Unlike other European countries, Greece offers no tax incentives for food donations and imposes no penalties, such as landfill fees, for food disposal. Without financial encouragement or deterrents, businesses have little motivation to reduce or repurpose surplus food.

Given that food waste has been on the rise in recent years, achieving the target set out in the new EU framework directive on food waste (1892/2025) which entered into force on Thursday seems even more difficult. According to this, by 2030, member states should reduce food waste by 10% in processing and manufacturing and by 30% per capita in retail trade and consumption, including restaurants, food service enterprises and households.

According to the data announced on Thursday, concerning 2023, Greece threw away 2.09 million tonnes of food, an amount increased compared to previous years. About 44% of the waste comes, not from the industry or the food service channel, but from households, which throw away more than 920,000 tonnes of food every year (926,509 tonnes in 2023). The manufacturing sector is responsible for 23% of the waste (485,336 tons in 2023), while the participation of primary production (11.4% or 238,604 tons), food service (11.31% or 236,663 tons) and retail trade – food distribution (9.77%) is much smaller.

Based on the above, the annual per capita food waste from households alone is 89 kg, while from primary production together with processing it reaches 70 kg and from the food service and retail channel 43 kg.

In 2020, 2,048,189 tons ended up in the trash, with the annual per capita waste being 191 kg, in 2021 the annual per capita waste increased to 193 kg, while 2022 was probably the last year that it was below 200 kg (196 kg).

Only two countries in the European Union, i.e. Cyprus (286 kg) and Denmark (261 kg), recorded worse performance than Greece. On the contrary, the countries with the best performance were Spain, where the annual per capita food waste in 2023 was only 65 kg, Slovenia (78 kg) and Hungary (88 kg).

Overall in the EU, 53% of food waste comes from households, with the entire remaining percentage resulting from the activity of the food production and distribution chain. In 2023, 58.2 million tons of food ended up in the trash across the European Union.