Value of the leading food importers worldwide 2014, by country

In 2014, the European Union was the leading importer of food products worldwide, with food imports valuing around 580 billion U.S. dollars. The United States was the second ranked global food importer with a value of approximately 133 billion U.S. dollars that year. The food industry is a global collective of diverse businesses that produce and supply most of the food consumed by the world’s population. The food industry ranges from farming and food processing, to the marketing and retailing of food products.

United States’ food consumption

Although China has the larger population of the two, the United States imported the largest value of food as a single country. The average annual household food expenditure in the United States was valued at 7,923 U.S. dollars in 2018. The United States is responsible for some of the world’s most popular fast food chains such as McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Chipotle, who source their ingredients from suppliers located all around the world. The highest-selling U.S. grocery retailer in 2019 was Walmart, with sales amounting to 273.9 billion U.S. dollars.