FAO · Cost of a Healthy Diet
Cost of a healthy diet by country
What does the cheapest healthy diet cost per person per day?
Of the 159 countries compared in 2025, Japan had the highest reading, 8.27, and DR Congo had the lowest reading, 2.66. In the middle country the figure was 4.55. Among the 159 countries measured in every edition since 2017, the middle one moved from 3.04 to 4.55.
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Cost of a healthy diet · 2025
Context statistic
Highest of 159Japan
8.27012025 · values only
The highest and the lowest
The three countries with the highest values of 159 compared, the three with the lowest, and the highest on each continent. This statistic has no better end, so no country is shown as leading.
- 1
- 2
- 3
Lowest in 2025
DR Congo2.66
Qatar2.73
United Kingdom2.75
This statistic has no better end: the two ends describe size, not success.
02Every measured country
Cost of a healthy diet on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value. This statistic has no better end, so the shades describe size, not success.
- 2.66–3.81
- 3.83–4.38
- 4.40–4.77
- 4.78–5.36
- 5.37–8.27
- No reading in 2025 (1 measured in an earlier edition)
- Americas
5.24
the middle country, of 29 measured · 48 members
Guyana7.02
United States2.86Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Asia
4.52
the middle country, of 40 measured · 52 members
Japan8.27Qatar2.73Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Africa
4.49
the middle country, of 49 measured · 55 members
Egypt6.06DR Congo2.66Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Europe
4.34
the middle country, of 38 measured · 49 members
Bosnia and Herzegovina6.88United Kingdom2.75Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Oceania
3 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand.
Fiji4.75
Australia3.33Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
20 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Eastern Asia
6.38
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Japan8.27
China3.64Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Caribbean
6.01
the middle country, of 11 measured · 24 members
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines6.71
Saint Kitts and Nevis5.15Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- South America
5.18
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Guyana7.02
Ecuador3.66Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Southern Europe
5.09
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Bosnia and Herzegovina6.88
Slovenia4.26Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Southern Africa
4.88
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Lesotho5.47
South Africa4.02Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Central America
4.77
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Guatemala5.18
Panama4.46Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- South-eastern Asia
4.68
the middle country, of 8 measured · 11 members
Brunei6.04
Singapore3.62Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Middle Africa
4.58
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Angola5.18DR Congo2.66Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Southern Asia
4.52
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Bhutan6.17
Pakistan3.94Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Eastern Africa
4.50
the middle country, of 15 measured · 19 members
Comoros5.47
Tanzania3.53Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Eastern Europe
4.21
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Bulgaria5.75
Russia3.39Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Western Asia
4.18
the middle country, of 15 measured · 19 members
Lebanon6.97Qatar2.73Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Northern Europe
4.18
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Latvia5.16United Kingdom2.75Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Africa
3.97
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Mauritania5.57
Benin3.58Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Western Europe
3.56
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Germany4.35
Belgium3.12Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand3.71Australia3.33Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Central Asia
3 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan.
Uzbekistan4.60
Kazakhstan3.07Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Melanesia
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Fiji.
Fiji4.75Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Northern Africa
4 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia.
Egypt6.06
Morocco3.64Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada4.46United States2.86Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
159 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 4.55; a quarter are above 5.17, and a quarter below 3.99. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 160 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. Neither end of this table is the good end. A low cost is good news for the people who buy food and bad news for the people who grow it, and the figure tracks a country's general price level as much as its food system. Whether people can pay it is a separate statistic: the share unable to afford a healthy diet.
Showing 25 of 160 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
052017–2025 · 9 reference years
Over time
Each point is one year from 2017, as the latest release gives it: the whole series is recalculated with new prices at every release, so compare years within this release rather than with figures printed in earlier reports.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 159 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 159 | 4.55 | 3.99 – 5.17 | 4.55 |
| 2024 | 159 | 4.42 | 3.83 – 4.99 | 4.42 |
| 2023 | 160 | 4.29 | 3.76 – 4.79 | 4.29 |
| 2022 | 160 | 3.94 | 3.49 – 4.46 | 3.94 |
| 2021 | 160 | 3.52 | 3.08 – 3.95 | 3.52 |
| 2020 | 160 | 3.37 | 2.97 – 3.76 | 3.35 |
| 2019 | 160 | 3.23 | 2.85 – 3.67 | 3.21 |
| 2018 | 160 | 3.12 | 2.74 – 3.51 | 3.11 |
| 2017 | 160 | 3.05 | 2.64 – 3.47 | 3.04 |
062024 → 2025
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Rose most
before → after
Bolivia4.82 → 5.38+0.56- Lebanon6.45 → 6.97+0.52
- Japan7.79 → 8.27+0.48
- Bosnia and Herzegovina6.45 → 6.88+0.43
Mozambique4.14 → 4.49+0.35
159 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Cost of a healthy diet in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
8.27
Cost of the cheapest locally available healthy diet, PPP dollars per person per day
Lowest reading on record
1.70
Cost of the cheapest locally available healthy diet, PPP dollars per person per day
Biggest rise between editions
+1.87
3.71 → 5.58
Biggest fall between editions
−0.81
4.25 → 3.44
Biggest change since first measured
+5.26
1.71 → 6.97
Highest most often
9 of 9
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About cost of a healthy diet
This is what the cheapest healthy diet available in a country costs per person per day, in dollars adjusted for differences in prices between countries. FAO and the World Bank price it from national retail prices and each country's own dietary guidelines, and publish it every year in The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World.
What the number is: Cost of the cheapest locally available healthy diet, PPP dollars per person per day.
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Health & Wellbeing and Poverty & Inequality, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Health & WellbeingPoverty & InequalityWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where cost of a healthy diet is higher, these tend to be higher too.
No statistic lines up this closely.
Moves against
Where cost of a healthy diet is higher, these tend to be lower.
- International MigrantsUN DESA Population Division · 159 countries in commonρ −0.49
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 369 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The countries at either end
11Questions
Cost of a healthy diet: questions and answers
Which country has the highest cost of a healthy diet?
Japan, at 8.27, among the 159 countries compared in 2025.
Which country has the lowest cost of a healthy diet?
DR Congo, at 2.66, among the 159 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Cost of a Healthy Diet cover?
159 in 2025, and 160 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 159 to 160 between editions.
What is the world average cost of a healthy diet?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 159 compared in 2025, the figure was 4.55.
Is this Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Cost of a Healthy Diet published?
This site holds 9 reference years, 2017–2025, all recalculated in Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)’s 2026 report on one method — not 9 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under CC BY 4.0. FAOSTAT's Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet domain, read from FAO's own bulk download. The World Bank publishes the same estimates and agrees to the cent for almost every country. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Cost of a Healthy Diet — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
FAOSTAT's Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet domain, read from FAO's own bulk download. The World Bank publishes the same estimates and agrees to the cent for almost every country.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: FAO. 2026. FAOSTAT: Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet (CoAHD). Accessed on 29 September 2026. https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/CAHD Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-29.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- This statistic has no better end, so the page describes higher and lower values and never calls a country a leader.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Cost of a healthy diet by country: Cost of a Healthy Diet, data from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/healthy-diet-cost