Romania: ‘fresh’ news about food consumption
Although decreasing, bread and bakery consumption in Romania remains high compared to other European countries. The consumption of other categories of products are slightly increasing.
Bread and bakery products were part of the basic food basket in 2021 with an average monthly per capita consumption of 7.38 kg, compared to 7.60 kg in the previous year; this stands for an annual consumption of 88.57 kg per capita (91.19 kg per capita in 2020), shows data centralized by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
According to statistics, Romania's consumption of meat and meat products was relatively lower compared to patterns in more developed countries. The average monthly per capita consumption of fresh meat was 3.88 kg in 2021. If meat preparations are included, then the amount becomes 5.37 kg per capita, up by 0.31 kg from the previous year; the annual consumption figure for fresh meat and meat preparations was 64.38 kg per capita. The consumption of fresh meat and meat products is highest in single-person households - a monthly 5.57 kg per capita for fresh meat and 7.69 kg per capita for fresh meat and meat preparations, INS reports.
The average monthly milk consumption in 2021 was 5.45 liters per capita (5.33 liters in 2020). The highest level was registered in retiree households (5.81 liters per capita in 2020 and 5.95 liters per capita in 2021), and the lowest in unemployed households (4.58 liters per capita in 2020 and 4.03 liters per capita in 2021).
There is a minor difference of 0.003 liters per capita between rural and urban households (5.445 liters of milk per capita for the first category and 5.448 liters per capita for the second). Single-person households had the highest milk consumption (7.50 liters per capita per month), a situation that can also be explained by the fact that these are predominantly elderly households, INS mentioned.
Consumption figures for cheese and cream were higher in retiree households (1.77 kg per capita per month) and lower for unemployed households (1.25 kg per capita per month). Single-person households stand out with a monthly consumption of 2.40 kg per capita).
Potato consumption was relatively uniform in all household categories, with the nationwide monthly average in 2021 standing at 3.02 kg per capita. Retirees were above average with a consumption of 3.26 kg per capita, while figures for employee households were the lowest.
Last year, the average monthly consumption of vegetables and canned vegetables was 8.46 kg per capita, up from the previous year by 0.46 kg. The highest consumption was recorded in single-person households (12.89 kg per capita) and in childless households (9.97 kg per capita), and the lowest in households with 4 and more children (5.66 kg per capita) or households of 6 or more people (6.27 kg per capita).
As far as fruit consumption is concerned, it was relatively low in all households, standing at a monthly average of 4.29 kg per capita in 2021 and 4.06 kg in 2020, with one-person households consuming 6.40 kg per capita per month (6.08 kg in 2020), more than double the average consumption of households of 6 and more people, which was 2.84 kg per capita in 2021 and 2.64 kg per capita in 2020.