Food Around the World

Excerpts from the report: Total world production of food products in 1965 was about 1 percent higher than in 1964, a smaller gain than in each of the previous 2 years and less than the 2-percent rise in world population. Per capita world production has remained generally steady in recent years; it has not topped the postwar high point in 1958. In 1965, per capita output was well above the level at the end of World War II, but only slightly exceeded the 1935-39 average. There is a widely different pattern of food consumption in the various regions of the world (table 11). The diets of Western Hemisphere and all of Europe have relatively similar average caloric content. Africa, West Asia, and the Far East use about 20 percent fewer calories per person. But, Oceania consumes more calories per person than any other region. Average expenditures for food take a smaller share of total private consumption expenditures in the United States than in any other country of the world for which data are available (table 13). Canada was a close second to the United States in 1963, followed closely by Australia and Denmark. Other countries that spent an average of less than 30 percent for food in 1963 include Belgium, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, South Africa, and Puerto Rico. These countries tend to have relatively high per capita incomes and relatively high levels of food consumption.