Nutrition - Statistics

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Food supply

The Directorate of Health compiles information on food supply regularly. Food supply provides information on the food available to the nation each year. Although food supply figures do not provide direct information on consumption, they indicate the nation's diet trends. The food supply is usually calculated from the equation: Food supply = production + imports - exports - other (e.g. animal feed). Where sales figures are available, they are published directly.

In most cases, the food supply covers minimally processed products, e.g. meat in whole carcasses with bone and ungutted fish, but in some instances, fully processed products are involved, such as milk, dairy products, and margarine. It does not take into account shrinkage that occurs from production until the food is brought into the household, nor of the shrinkage in the household. Therefore, the food supply does not say anything about the actual consumption but provides valuable information for monitoring the development of the nation's diet over a more extended period.

Food supply is calculated for 13 categories of food and in addition, for soft drinks and candy. The figures are calculated yearly, with the results published as five-year averages, except for the last few years.

The nutritional value of the diet, i.e. energy and protein, fat, carbohydrates, and alcohol, was also calculated based on the food supply figures until the year 2007. Since then, information on various types of food has been lacking. Thus, there is no basis for these calculations anymore. The energy supply was reported in g/day, and their relative contribution to the energy was also calculated.