Ireland leads EU in daily fruit and veg intake

While across all EU member states, only 12% of adults consume the recommended five or more servings of fruit and vegetables per day, in Ireland, 33% of adults in Ireland reach this target, with another 48% consuming between one and four servings a day. The figures come from the latest OECD “Health at a Glance 2022 Report”.

On average across the 27 EU member states, only 12% of adults reported consuming five or more servings of fruit and vegetables per day in 2019, while 55% reported consuming between one and four servings per day, and 33% indicated eating less than one serving a day. The countries with the highest proportions of adults reporting a daily intake of five servings or more of fruit and vegetables were Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and France. By contrast, Romania, Latvia, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic have the highest proportion of adults reporting less than one daily fruit and vegetable intake.

Women are more likely than men to consume at least 5 or more servings of fruit and vegetables in all EU countries except Greece. The gender gap was widest in Denmark and Finland, and narrowest in Croatia, Cyprus, Greece and Romania.

Daily consumption of at least five servings of fruits and vegetables is consistently higher among adults with a higher educational level compared to those with a lower educational level. The countries with the widest educational disparities include Denmark, the Netherlands and Ireland.