World Data Lab

Category

Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages

Built for food and beverage teams deciding which markets to enter, where the cheaper end of the range still has room to grow, and which consumers the next five years of the portfolio is aimed at.

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COICOP 1 · WDP 2026.2.3

Food and non-alcoholic beverages in numbers, 2026 to 2036

USD 10.70T

Spending in 2026

USD 17.45T

Spending in 2036

+USD 6.75T

Added by 2036

5.01%

Annual growth to 2036

USD 1,311

Per person a year

15.1%

Share of the global wallet

nominal USD, current prices

We map and forecast food and beverage spending across cities.

World

 

 

We can identify the future city markets for food and beverage.

Annual consumer spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages, 2000 to 2040.

2000
  1. Tokyo: USD 93bn in 2000
  2. Osaka: USD 41bn in 2000
  3. Mexico City: USD 31bn in 2000
  4. New York City: USD 29bn in 2000
  5. Los Angeles: USD 23bn in 2000

We analyse which demographics will contribute most to that growth.

By spending tier

Spending in 2026Added by 2036Rich20.2%34.2%Upper middle12.3%15.5%Core middle26.0%26.4%Lower middle30.7%22.0%Poor10.8%1.9%
  • Rich: 20.2% of spending in 2026, 34.2% of the spending added by 2036
  • Upper middle: 12.3% of spending in 2026, 15.5% of the spending added by 2036
  • Core middle: 26.0% of spending in 2026, 26.4% of the spending added by 2036
  • Lower middle: 30.7% of spending in 2026, 22.0% of the spending added by 2036
  • Poor: 10.8% of spending in 2026, 1.9% of the spending added by 2036

By age band

Spending in 2026Added by 203665 and over17.7%27.6%45-6527.1%28.2%30-4521.5%16.8%15-3018.5%17.5%0-1515.2%9.8%
  • 65 and over: 17.7% of spending in 2026, 27.6% of the spending added by 2036
  • 45-65: 27.1% of spending in 2026, 28.2% of the spending added by 2036
  • 30-45: 21.5% of spending in 2026, 16.8% of the spending added by 2036
  • 15-30: 18.5% of spending in 2026, 17.5% of the spending added by 2036
  • 0-15: 15.2% of spending in 2026, 9.8% of the spending added by 2036

We break down food and non-alcoholic beverages into subcategories.

Area is spending in 2026. USD 10.70T across 18 published lines of the model.

Meat

USD 2.13T · 19.9%

Bread and cereals

USD 1.85T · 17.3%

Vegetables

USD 1.30T · 12.2%

Fruits

USD 874bn · 8.2%

Other food products

USD 825bn · 7.7%

Fresh and frozen fish and seafood

USD 680bn · 6.4%

Sugar, jam, honey, chocolate and confectionery

USD 554bn · 5.2%

Mineral waters, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices

USD 538bn · 5.0%

Milk

USD 447bn · 4.2%

Oils and fats

USD 412bn · 3.9%

Cheese

USD 368bn · 3.4%

Eggs

USD 157bn · 1.5%

Coffee

USD 153bn · 1.4%

USD 110bn

  • Other dairy productsUSD 147bn
  • YoghurtUSD 110bn
  • TeaUSD 79bn
  • Canned fishUSD 60bn
  • Cocoa and powdered chocolateUSD 18bn

Five decisions a food and beverage team can settle with this data.

01

Market entry and prioritisation

The cities holding the most food and beverage spending today are not the ones adding it fastest. Across the forty largest markets in the model the spread runs from 1.6% a year to 8.3%, which is the difference between a market that transforms by 2036 and one that barely moves. We rank every city on the spending that is forming rather than the spending already there.

02

Pricing and affordability

Spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages by rich consumers compounds at 7.54% a year, against 1.07% for the poorest. A cheaper range can hold its volume and still be defending a shrinking share of the growth, because the growth is not sitting where the volume is. We map spending power against your own price range in every market you sell in.

03

Category and portfolio strategy

Inside the category, fish and seafood compounds at 5.48% a year while mineral waters, soft drinks, fruit and vegetable juices manages 4.53%. Those are two different shelf decisions inside one category averaging 5.01%, and the average is what most portfolio reviews are still built on.

04

Segmentation and targeting

Spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages by the over-65s compounds at 7.10% a year, against 3.47% for the under-15s. In Tokyo the over-65s already hold 27% of the category. A pipeline aimed at the wrong life stage is chasing the slower half of the market, and the gap widens every year to 2036.

05

Demand forecasting and sizing

The category adds $6.75 trillion between 2026 and 2036, and none of it arrives evenly. A capacity decision taken now rests on the market that will exist in ten years rather than the one visible today. We project every market and every year to 2050.

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All 13 categories →

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Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages

A concise slide deck of the key food & non-alcoholic beverages spending trends across 190+ countries and 9,000+ cities, projected through 2050.

PDF slide deck190+ countriesThrough 2050

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