Spain's Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) published the Informe Anual 2025 on food waste on 10 September 2026. It reports that around 1.13 billion kilograms or litres of food and drink were discarded in 2025. That is 0.4 per cent more than in 2024, but 19.2 per cent less than in 2020. The latest report is the authoritative official reference for the situation in 2025.
The largest share of food waste still comes from Privathaushalte. The average waste per person in 2025 was 24.3 kilograms or litres, slightly below the 2024 figure. Outside the home — especially in Gastronomie, Gemeinschaftsverpflegung and Handel — waste volumes stabilised or rose slightly in some areas, explaining the small overall increase compared with the previous year.
The ministry attributes the substantial decline since 2020 to several factors: gradual changes in consumption habits, information and awareness campaigns, and new legal requirements. In 2025, Spain a national legislative package to prevent food losses and food waste came into force, placing greater emphasis on prevention and redistribution of surplus goods. At the same time, the European Union is working on binding reduction targets; Spain has aligned its national requirements with these initiatives.
The data are not free from uncertainty. MAPA points to methodological limitations, particularly in measuring waste in the out-of-home catering sector and along supply chains. It is also unclear whether the slight increase in 2025 is merely a statistical fluctuation or marks the start of a reversal in the trend. More detailed analysis is needed in retail, logistics and institutional catering to support a robust assessment.
However, independent industry assessments and official data points paint a consistent picture: the long-term trend is downward, while the latest upward movement is minimal. For consumers, local authorities and businesses, this means that further adaptation is needed. Priorities include better planning, reducing losses of fresh produce, more efficient storage and strengthening systems for redistributing food to social organisations. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and regional governments plan to refine data collection further so that measures can be better targeted.
The publication of the Informe Anual 2025 by MAPA thus provides an updated, robust basis for the national debate on effective measures to tackle food waste in Spain.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).