Australians are consuming less of all major food groups with vegetables, fruit and milk products leading the decline.
A total of 14.8 million tonnes of food and non-alcoholic beverages were sold across Australia in 2022-23, according to a new report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
It marked a decrease of 1.9 per cent on the previous year.
The ABS report measures “apparent consumption”, which is the amount of food and non-alcoholic beverages purchased from supermarkets and smaller food retail outlets.
This does not include food purchased from fast food outlets, cafes, restaurants or “institutions utilising catering services that source from non-supermarket supplies”.
It also does not include food obtained via home-growing, foraging, hunting or fishing.
“Overall lower estimates of consumption in 2022-23 compared with previous years may be associated with recent food price inflation,” the report said.
“The recent price increases in food, along with a general increase in all consumer prices, is consistent with a lower volume of food being purchased despite the value of food retail turnover in 2022-23 exceeding previous years.”
Vegetables had the largest drop in consumption, decreasing by 14 grams per person per day, followed by fruit (down 12 grams) and milk (down 11 grams).
ABS health statistics spokesperson Paul Atyeo said: “Many of the foods that dropped during 2022-23 are part of longer-term trends.
“We’re consuming between 5 and 8 per cent less cow’s milk, bread and fruit juice per person compared to 2018-19.”
Australians consumed 1.6 per cent more bottled water in the 2022-23 period compared to the previous 12 months.
Energy and sports drinks also increased by 3.3 per cent, along with “chicken dishes like nuggets”, which jumped 2.6 per cent.
Potato chips, cereals and convenience meals also increased compared to previous years.
But “despite the annual fall”, the report said consumption of dairy and meat substitutes has increased by 30 per cent between 2018 and 2023.
“Similarly, per capita consumption of snack foods grew 10 per cent between 2018-19 and 2022-23, despite the recent annual drop of 3.2 per cent,” the report said.
Australians on average failed to meet the recommended minimum daily servings of five major food groups — something consistent over a five-year period.
Australians on average ate just 2.2 serves of vegetables and legumes/beans in 2022-23, compared to the recommended minimum of 5.0 servings.
The numbers mirrored a CSIRO report released in September, which said only two in five Australians were eating enough vegetables.
The CSIRO report scored Australians best for beverages, noting the majority were opting for water over soft drinks or juices.
The ABS data does not account for tap water, “and therefore will significantly under-represent total beverage consumption of the population”.
“Per capita apparent consumption of selected non-alcoholic beverages was 378 mL per day in 2022-23, down 2.3 per cent from 386 mL per day in 2021-22,” the report says.
“The recent drop of 8.7 mL per capita follows consecutive year-on-year increases between 2018-19 and 2021-22.
“[This results] in the 2022-23 figure being a 38 mL (11 per cent) increase from 2018-19.
“The most significant increase … was for bottled water, which rose 2.2 mL to 139 mL per capita (up 1.6 per cent).”
Volumes of electrolyte drinks and energy drinks “increased 48 per cent and 46 per cent respectively over the five years to 2022-23”.
Australians drank 9.4 mL less soft drinks (-5.5 per cent) and 1.7 mL less fruit and vegetable drinks (-9.9 per cent) on average per day.
