Households comprised of independent young people and young couples without children consumed the least fresh fruit in 2023 (with 2% and 3.8% of the total, respectively) compared to the percentage of the population they represent. In contrast, retirees and adult couples without children ate the most fruit, accounting for 33.5% and 16% of the total consumed in Spain last year.
According to the 2023 Food Consumption Report of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food, fresh fruit consumption in 2023 stood at 78.5 kilos per person per year, i.e. 2.7% less than in the previous year. Households formed by independent young people only consumed 2.08% of the 3,672 million kilos of fruits that the country's households purchased, even though they account for 5.6% of the population. The second group that eats the least fruit is young couples without children. Despite representing 7.4% of the population, they only consumed 3.8% of the total consumed in 2023.
Households comprised of retirees, adult couples without children, or couples with older children consumed the most fresh fruit in 2023. In all three cases, the consumption share exceeds the demographic percentage of the population they represent. Households comprised of retirees accounted for 33.5% of fruit consumption, households of adult couples without children for 16%, and households of couples with older children for 12%.
The households in which the person in charge of purchases is older than 50 buy the most fresh fruit, accounting for 39.4% of the volume purchased, exceeding the demographic of the population they represent (29%).
Households in which the person responsible for purchases is over 50 years old have the highest per capita consumption of fresh fruit, especially those where the person in charge is over 65, with an average intake of 146.86 kilograms per person per year. Meanwhile, the people in households in which the person in charge of purchases is under 35 only consume 34.53 kilos of fruit per person per year, well below the 78.51 kilos national average.
The multiple data from Spain's 2023 Food Consumption Report analysed by FEPEX show a demographic consumption behaviour that makes us wonder: Is household consumption of fresh fruits still an adult and elderly thing?
Source: www.fepex.es