Inequality in per capita calorie intake by country

The inequality in dietary calorie intake is measured as the coefficient of variation in energy intake. It represents the spread of intakes around the mean. Higher values represent larger levels of dietary inequality.

Countries reporting

181

Highest

0.41

Haiti

Lowest

0.17

United States

Median

0.26

Years covered

2000–2020

Data points

3,885

What the numbers show

Inequality in per capita calorie intake is currently reported for 181 countries. The highest value is 0.41 in Haiti; the lowest is 0.17 in United States.

The median across all reporting countries is 0.26, and the mean is 0.266.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.

Over the past decade 80 countries rose and 15 fell. The largest increase was in Yemen (up 51.9%), and the largest decrease in Moldova (down 16.7%).

Inequality in per capita calorie intake: full country ranking

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Haiti	0.41	2020	down 16.3%	flat
1	Liberia	0.41	2020	unchanged	rising
1	Niger	0.41	2020	up 28.1%	rising
1	Yemen	0.41	2020	up 51.9%	rising
5	Burkina Faso	0.4	2020	up 17.6%	rising
5	Cote d'Ivoire	0.4	2020	unchanged	flat
5	Iraq	0.4	2020	up 5.3%	rising
5	Chad	0.4	2020	up 11.1%	rising
9	Mali	0.39	2020	up 34.5%	rising
9	Nigeria	0.39	2020	up 39.3%	rising
11	Tanzania	0.38	2020	up 5.6%	rising
12	Afghanistan	0.37	2020	up 48.0%	rising
12	Palestine	0.37	2020	unchanged	rising
14	Malawi	0.36	2020	up 9.1%	rising
14	Zambia	0.36	2020	up 2.9%	flat
16	Angola	0.35	2020	up 16.7%	rising
16	Botswana	0.35	2020	up 16.7%	rising
16	Guatemala	0.35	2020	up 12.9%	rising
16	Rwanda	0.35	2020	up 6.1%	rising
20	Guinea	0.34	2020	up 6.2%	flat
20	Nicaragua	0.34	2020	up 3.0%	flat
20	Somalia	0.34	2020	up 13.3%	flat
24	Morocco	0.33	2020	up 6.5%	flat
24	Namibia	0.33	2020	up 13.8%	rising
24	Sierra Leone	0.33	2020	unchanged	falling
27	Egypt	0.32	2020	unchanged	flat
27	Ethiopia	0.32	2020	up 18.5%	flat
27	Mauritania	0.32	2020	up 6.7%	rising
27	Togo	0.32	2020	unchanged	flat
27	Uganda	0.32	2020	up 6.7%	falling
32	Colombia	0.31	2020	up 3.3%	falling
32	Gabon	0.31	2020	unchanged	rising
32	Honduras	0.31	2020	unchanged	flat
32	Lebanon	0.31	2020	up 24.0%	rising
32	Philippines	0.31	2020	up 6.9%	flat
32	East Timor	0.31	2020	unchanged	flat
32	Tunisia	0.31	2020	up 6.9%	flat
32	Zimbabwe	0.31	2020	unchanged	flat
40	Congo	0.3	2020	up 15.4%	flat
40	Dominican Republic	0.3	2020	up 25.0%	rising
40	Ghana	0.3	2020	up 3.4%	flat
40	Gambia	0.3	2020	up 7.1%	flat
40	Libya	0.3	2020	up 20.0%	rising
40	Macao	0.3	2020	unchanged	flat
40	Mauritius	0.3	2020	up 15.4%	rising
40	Tajikistan	0.3	2020	up 7.1%	rising
49	Albania	0.29	2020	unchanged	rising
49	Argentina	0.29	2020	up 16.0%	rising
49	Central African Republic	0.29	2020	unchanged	flat
49	Democratic Republic of Congo	0.29	2020	unchanged	flat
49	Algeria	0.29	2020	down 3.3%	flat
49	Georgia	0.29	2020	up 16.0%	flat
49	India	0.29	2020	up 16.0%	flat
49	Kiribati	0.29	2020	up 3.6%	rising
49	Mozambique	0.29	2020	down 12.1%	falling
49	Peru	0.29	2020	up 20.8%	flat
49	Paraguay	0.29	2020	up 20.8%	flat
49	Solomon Islands	0.29	2020	up 3.6%	rising
49	South Sudan	0.29	2020	down 3.3%	rising
49	Vietnam	0.29	2020	up 3.6%	rising
63	Burundi	0.28	2020	unchanged	flat
63	Benin	0.28	2020	unchanged	flat
63	Guinea-Bissau	0.28	2020	unchanged	flat
63	Grenada	0.28	2020	unchanged	flat
63	Indonesia	0.28	2020	unchanged	flat
63	Jordan	0.28	2020	up 7.7%	flat
63	Kenya	0.28	2020	up 21.7%	flat
63	Madagascar	0.28	2020	up 3.7%	flat
63	Myanmar	0.28	2020	unchanged	flat
63	Nepal	0.28	2020	up 7.7%	falling
63	Saudi Arabia	0.28	2020	unchanged	flat
63	Sudan	0.28	2020	up 3.7%	flat
63	Vanuatu	0.28	2020	unchanged	flat
77	Brazil	0.27	2020	unchanged	falling
77	Ecuador	0.27	2020	up 12.5%	rising
77	Iran	0.27	2020	unchanged	flat
77	Sri Lanka	0.27	2020	up 12.5%	flat
77	Lesotho	0.27	2020	unchanged	flat
77	New Caledonia	0.27	2020	unchanged	flat
77	Pakistan	0.27	2020	up 8.0%	falling
77	Papua New Guinea	0.27	2020	unchanged	flat
77	Trinidad and Tobago	0.27	2020	unchanged	flat
77	Samoa	0.27	2020	up 8.0%	rising
77	South Africa	0.27	2020	up 17.4%	rising
88	Comoros	0.26	2020	unchanged	flat
88	Eritrea	0.26	2020	unchanged	flat
88	Saint Kitts and Nevis	0.26	2020	unchanged	flat
88	Kuwait	0.26	2020	unchanged	flat
88	Oman	0.26	2020	unchanged	flat
88	North Korea	0.26	2020	unchanged	rising
88	El Salvador	0.26	2020	unchanged	flat
88	Eswatini	0.26	2020	up 4.0%	flat
88	Syria	0.26	2020	unchanged	flat
88	Thailand	0.26	2020	up 4.0%	falling
98	Bangladesh	0.25	2020	down 3.8%	falling
98	Belize	0.25	2020	unchanged	flat
98	Cape Verde	0.25	2020	down 3.8%	flat
98	Guyana	0.25	2020	unchanged	flat
98	Kazakhstan	0.25	2020	unchanged	flat
98	Kyrgyzstan	0.25	2020	unchanged	flat
98	Maldives	0.25	2020	unchanged	flat
98	North Macedonia	0.25	2020	up 13.6%	flat
98	Uzbekistan	0.25	2020	up 8.7%	rising
107	United Arab Emirates	0.24	2020	up 4.3%	rising
107	Antigua and Barbuda	0.24	2020	unchanged	flat
107	Bermuda	0.24	2020	unchanged	flat
107	Bolivia	0.24	2020	unchanged	flat
107	Chile	0.24	2020	up 9.1%	flat
107	Cameroon	0.24	2020	unchanged	flat
107	Dominica	0.24	2020	unchanged	flat
107	Fiji	0.24	2020	unchanged	flat
107	Jamaica	0.24	2020	up 4.3%	flat
107	Cambodia	0.24	2020	down 7.7%	falling
107	Mongolia	0.24	2020	down 4.0%	falling
107	Senegal	0.24	2020	unchanged	flat
107	Suriname	0.24	2020	unchanged	flat
107	Turkmenistan	0.24	2020	unchanged	rising
107	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	0.24	2020	unchanged	flat
107	Venezuela	0.24	2020	up 20.0%	flat
123	Armenia	0.23	2020	up 4.5%	falling
123	Costa Rica	0.23	2020	up 4.5%	flat
123	Cuba	0.23	2020	unchanged	flat
123	Laos	0.23	2020	unchanged	falling
123	Lithuania	0.23	2020	up 4.5%	flat
123	French Polynesia	0.23	2020	unchanged	rising
123	Russia	0.23	2020	up 4.5%	flat
123	Seychelles	0.23	2020	unchanged	flat
123	Turkey	0.23	2020	up 4.5%	falling
123	Ukraine	0.23	2020	up 9.5%	flat
133	Bosnia and Herzegovina	0.22	2020	up 4.8%	flat
133	Barbados	0.22	2020	unchanged	flat
133	Croatia	0.22	2020	up 4.8%	flat
133	South Korea	0.22	2020	unchanged	flat
133	Saint Lucia	0.22	2020	down 4.3%	falling
133	Latvia	0.22	2020	unchanged	flat
133	Montenegro	0.22	2020	up 4.8%	flat
133	Serbia	0.22	2020	up 10.0%	flat
133	Sao Tome and Principe	0.22	2020	unchanged	falling
133	Uruguay	0.22	2020	up 4.8%	flat
133	Taiwan	0.22	2020	down 4.3%	falling
145	Australia	0.21	2020	up 5.0%	flat
145	Azerbaijan	0.21	2020	unchanged	falling
145	Bulgaria	0.21	2020	up 10.5%	flat
145	Bahamas	0.21	2020	unchanged	flat
145	Brunei	0.21	2020	unchanged	flat
145	Czechia	0.21	2020	up 5.0%	flat
145	Denmark	0.21	2020	up 5.0%	flat
145	Spain	0.21	2020	unchanged	flat
145	Estonia	0.21	2020	unchanged	flat
145	Greece	0.21	2020	unchanged	flat
145	Hungary	0.21	2020	unchanged	flat
145	Ireland	0.21	2020	unchanged	flat
145	Israel	0.21	2020	up 5.0%	flat
145	Malta	0.21	2020	up 5.0%	flat
145	Malaysia	0.21	2020	down 4.5%	flat
145	New Zealand	0.21	2020	up 5.0%	flat
145	Poland	0.21	2020	unchanged	flat
145	Portugal	0.21	2020	unchanged	flat
145	Slovakia	0.21	2020	up 5.0%	flat
145	Sweden	0.21	2020	up 5.0%	flat
165	Austria	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Belgium	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Belarus	0.2	2020	down 4.8%	flat
165	Canada	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Switzerland	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Germany	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Finland	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	France	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	United Kingdom	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Iceland	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Italy	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Luxembourg	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Moldova	0.2	2020	down 16.7%	falling
165	Netherlands	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Norway	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
165	Romania	0.2	2020	down 4.8%	flat
165	Slovenia	0.2	2020	unchanged	flat
182	China	0.19	2020	down 5.0%	falling
183	Cyprus	0.18	2020	unchanged	flat
184	Japan	0.17	2020	unchanged	flat
184	United States	0.17	2020	unchanged	flat

About this data

Indicator: Inequality in per capita calorie intake
Source: FAO (2017) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 185 places, 3,885 data points, 2000–2020
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026