With everyone talking about the rise of the American "foodie" (not to mention the continuation of the American drinker and smoker) you might think that we're spending a pretty penny on dining and food -- more than anywhere else in the world. But you'd be wrong.
Using data from the USDA and EuroMonitor, Huffington Post has calculated just how much residents of countries around the world are spending on food at home, dining out, alcohol, and tobacco. You might be surprised to know that Americans spend less per person on dining and drinking than residents of more than a dozen other countries. Despite our reputation for obesity, might residents of these place actually love eating, drinking, and smoking more than we do?
According to Huffington Post, Americans spent an average of $4,431 person on food, drink, and tobacco in 2012. By category, it works out to be $2,274 on food at home, $1,485 on restaurant meals, and $673 on tobacco and alcohol. Americans also spent an average of $649.50 on fast food, which was more than residents of any other country.
On the other end of the list, residents of Switzerland spent an average of $8,024 per person on food last year. That's the most of any country. $4,934 was the average amount spent on food at home, while just $1,501 was spent on average at restaurants. Nearly the same amount, $1,581 was the average spent on tobacco and alcohol.
The other 18 countries on the list were the following, in order of least to most spent:
United Kingdom Greece Ireland France Belgium Denmark Italy Canada Hong Kong Spain Austria Finland New Zeland Sweden Japan Austrailia Norway
Of course, factors like high minimum wage laws and retail taxes in other countries could be driving up prices for restaurant meals and food. But you can see exactly how much residents in each of the countries spent on food at home, dining out and drinking in the original article.
