The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends eating at least 400g, or five or more portions, of fruit and vegetables per day. A healthy diet may also reduce the likelihood of being overweight or obese. In 2019, diets low in fruit, vegetables and legumes were responsible for an estimated total of 2.7 million deaths worldwide.
The UK and Ireland had the joint highest percentage of people who consume five or more portions of fruit and vegetables daily with 33%. Rounding off the top five countries were Korea (32%), Israel (32%) and the Netherlands (30%).
Rob Percival, head of food policy at the Soil Association, told The Guardian: “This may be the first time the UK has topped a European league table for the right reasons. We Brits are a nation of closet veggie chompers.”
The average percentage of adults consuming five or more portions of fruit and vegetables was 15%. The lowest percentage of adults to achieve the recommended volume of fruit and vegetables was in Austria (6%), Slovenia (5%), Bulgaria (5%), Türkiye (3%) and Romania (2%).