Greece among Europe’s food waste champions

Over 2 million tons of food end up in the trash every year in Greece, while, according to data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), 7% of the country’s population faces moderate or severe food insecurity.
Eurostat data released on Thursday shows Greece has the third-highest food waste rate per capita among European Union member states. Annual food waste in Greece amounted to 201 kilograms per capita in 2023, compared with the EU average of 130 kg per capita per year.
With food waste rising in recent years, achieving the targets set out in the new EU framework directive on food waste (1892/2025), which entered into force on Thursday, appears increasingly challenging. The directive requires member states to 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 – by 2030.
According to the 2023 data, Greece discarded 2.09 million tons of food, an increase compared with previous years. About 44% of the waste comes from households, which threw away more than 920,000 tons of food in 2023. The manufacturing sector accounted for 23% of the waste (485,336 tons), while primary production (11.4% or 238,604 tons), food service (11.31% or 236,663 tons), and retail trade/distribution (9.77%) contributed smaller shares.
Based on these figures, annual per capita food waste from households alone is 89 kg, while combined primary production and processing account for 70 kg per capita, and food service and retail channels for 43 kg per capita.
In 2020, 2,048,189 tons of food were wasted, with an annual per capita rate of 191 kg. In 2021, this increased to 193 kg per capita, while 2022 was likely the last year the figure remained below 200 kg, at 196 kg per capita.
Only two EU countries – Cyprus (286 kg) and Denmark (261 kg) – recorded higher per capita food waste than Greece. The lowest rates were in Spain (65 kg), Slovenia (78 kg), and Hungary (88 kg).
Overall, households account for 53% of food waste in the EU, with the remainder coming from the food production and distribution chain. In 2023, a total of 58.2 million tons of food were discarded across the European Union.