FAO · Coefficient of Variation of Habitual Caloric Consumption
Spread of calorie consumption by country
How unevenly are calories shared across a country's population?
Of the 164 countries compared in 2024, 3 countries shared the lowest reading, 0.17, and 4 countries shared the highest reading, 0.40. In the middle country the figure was 0.25.
Share
Spread of calorie consumption · 2024
Context statistic
3 countries share the lowest value, 0.17 — no single country is named first.
012024 · values only
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 164 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
Lowest in 2024 · shared
3 countries share the lowest reading, 0.17
No single country is named first: picking one from a shared value would be a choice the data does not make.
Lowest on each continent
- Africa
Seychelles0.23 - Americas
2 countries share 0.17
- Asia
Japan0.17 - Europe
2 countries share 0.19
- Oceania
New Zealand0.21 - Every region
02Every measured country
Spread of calorie consumption on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a lower value — the better end.
- 0.31–0.40
- 0.27–0.30
- 0.23–0.26
- 0.21–0.22
- 0.17–0.20
- No reading in 2024 (3 measured in an earlier edition)
- Europe
0.21
the middle country, of 38 measured · 49 members
2 share 0.19
Albania0.30Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Asia
0.24
the middle country, of 40 measured · 52 members
Japan0.172 share 0.40
Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Americas
0.25
the middle country, of 29 measured · 48 members
2 share 0.17
Haiti0.40Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
0.28
the middle country, of 8 measured · 21 members
New Zealand0.21
Vanuatu0.32Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Africa
0.32
the middle country, of 49 measured · 55 members
Seychelles0.23
Malawi0.40Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Eastern Europe
0.21
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Bulgaria0.19
Ukraine0.23Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Northern Europe
0.21
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Ireland0.192 share 0.22
Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Southern Europe
0.21
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
3 share 0.20
Albania0.30Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Western Europe
0.21
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
3 share 0.20
4 share 0.21
Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Asia
0.22
the middle country, of 5 measured · 8 members
Japan0.173 share 0.22
Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
0.22
the middle country, of 9 measured · 11 members
2 share 0.21
Vietnam0.29Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Central Asia
0.24
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kyrgyzstan0.22
Tajikistan0.28Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Western Asia
0.25
the middle country, of 14 measured · 19 members
Cyprus0.18
Syria0.40Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Caribbean
0.25
the middle country, of 8 measured · 24 members
Cuba0.23Haiti0.40Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- South America
0.26
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Uruguay0.17
Argentina0.28Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Southern Asia
0.26
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Sri Lanka0.23
Afghanistan0.40Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central America
0.28
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica0.19
Guatemala0.37Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Middle Africa
0.30
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
São Tomé and Príncipe0.24
DR Congo0.39Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Eastern Africa
0.31
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Seychelles0.23Malawi0.40Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Northern Africa
0.34
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Algeria0.29
Libya0.36Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Western Africa
0.34
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde0.25
Guinea0.39Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand0.21
Australia0.22Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Melanesia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
Papua New Guinea0.27Vanuatu0.32Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati.
Kiribati0.28Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States0.17
Canada0.21Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa.
Samoa0.28Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, South Africa.
South Africa0.26
Botswana0.35Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
164 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 0.25; a quarter are above 0.30, and a quarter below 0.21. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 167 ever measured
Every country
In order, lowest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. Part of the spread is biology rather than inequality — children, older people and smaller adults need fewer calories — so a higher value is not entirely a failing. Where no suitable survey exists FAO estimates the value indirectly, and it is published to two decimal places, so many countries share one.
Showing 25 of 167 countries
Values for 2024. The change column compares 2024 with 2023 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052001–2024 · 24 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 2001, as FAO's latest release estimates it.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 163 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 164 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.30 | 0.25 |
| 2023 | 164 | 0.26 | 0.21 – 0.30 | 0.26 |
| 2022 | 165 | 0.26 | 0.21 – 0.30 | 0.26 |
| 2021 | 166 | 0.26 | 0.22 – 0.30 | 0.26 |
| 2020 | 166 | 0.26 | 0.21 – 0.30 | 0.26 |
| 2019 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.29 | 0.25 |
| 2018 | 166 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.29 | 0.25 |
| 2017 | 166 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.29 | 0.25 |
| 2016 | 166 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.28 | 0.24 |
| 2015 | 166 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.28 | 0.24 |
| 2014 | 166 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.28 | 0.24 |
| 2013 | 166 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.28 | 0.24 |
| 2012 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.28 | 0.25 |
| 2011 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.28 | 0.25 |
| 2010 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.28 | 0.25 |
| 2009 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.29 | 0.25 |
| 2008 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.29 | 0.25 |
| 2007 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.29 | 0.25 |
| 2006 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.29 | 0.25 |
| 2005 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.28 | 0.25 |
| 2004 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.21 – 0.29 | 0.25 |
| 2003 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.22 – 0.28 | 0.25 |
| 2002 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.22 – 0.28 | 0.25 |
| 2001 | 165 | 0.25 | 0.22 – 0.28 | 0.25 |
062023 → 2024
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → afterWorsened most
before → after- Guinea0.37 → 0.39+0.02
- Albania0.29 → 0.30+0.01
Azerbaijan0.21 → 0.22+0.01
Gabon0.37 → 0.38+0.01
Jordan0.26 → 0.27+0.01
164 countries were measured in both 2023 and 2024.
07Across every edition
Spread of calorie consumption in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
Reached 16 times by 5 countries — shared, so no holder is named
0.40
Coefficient of variation of habitual calorie consumption across the population (standard deviation ÷ mean)
Lowest reading on record
Reached 58 times by 3 countries — shared, so no holder is named
0.17
Coefficient of variation of habitual calorie consumption across the population (standard deviation ÷ mean)
Biggest improvement between editions
−0.06
0.39 → 0.33
Biggest decline between editions
+0.09
0.26 → 0.35
Most improved since first measured
−0.10
0.37 → 0.27
08The measure
About spread of calorie consumption
This measures how unevenly the calories people habitually eat are spread across a country's population. It is one of the two numbers FAO uses to estimate how many people are undernourished: the same national food supply leaves more people short when it is shared less evenly.
What the number is: Coefficient of variation of habitual calorie consumption across the population (standard deviation ÷ mean).
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Health & Wellbeing and Poverty & Inequality, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Health & WellbeingPoverty & InequalityWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where spread of calorie consumption is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Prevalence of UndernourishmentFAO · 160 countries in commonρ 0.83
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 155 countries in commonρ 0.80
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 149 countries in commonρ 0.79
Moves against
Where spread of calorie consumption is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 149 countries in commonρ −0.81
- Women's Empowerment IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women · 107 countries in commonρ −0.81
- Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 149 countries in commonρ −0.80
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 375 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
11Questions
Spread of calorie consumption: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest spread of calorie consumption?
3 countries share the lowest reading, 0.17, among the 164 compared in 2024, so no single country is named.
Which country has the highest spread of calorie consumption?
4 countries share the highest reading, 0.40, among the 164 compared in 2024, so no single country is named.
How many countries does the Coefficient of Variation of Habitual Caloric Consumption cover?
164 in 2024, and 167 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 164 to 166 between editions.
What is the world average spread of calorie consumption?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 164 compared in 2024, the figure was 0.25.
Is this Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Coefficient of Variation of Habitual Caloric Consumption published?
This site holds 24 reference years, 2001–2024, all recalculated in Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s 2026 report on one method — not 24 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under CC BY 4.0. FAOSTAT's Suite of Food Security Indicators, read from FAO's own bulk download. It is a parameter of FAO's model of undernourishment, published alongside it. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Coefficient of Variation of Habitual Caloric Consumption — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
FAOSTAT's Suite of Food Security Indicators, read from FAO's own bulk download. It is a parameter of FAO's model of undernourishment, published alongside it.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year 2024
Cite the source as: FAO. 2026. FAOSTAT: Suite of Food Security Indicators. Accessed on 3 October 2026. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FS Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-10-03.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Spread of calorie consumption by country: Coefficient of Variation of Habitual Caloric Consumption, data from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/calorie-consumption-variation