Chart of the Month - April 2025

With the end of lent and Easter feasting, it is an apt time to look at what naughty foods Australians like to snack on (see chart below)!

While the international image of Australians is of lifeguards, beach bodies, and movie stars like Hugh Jackman and Margot Robbie, the reality is less flattering. Like most developed nations, Australia has an increasing rate of obesity.

Chocolate is King!

Chocolate is not only the most popular discretionary food in Australia it also represents 4% of the average Australian's total daily energy intake!

Discretionary means food and drink that do not provide the necessary nutrients the body needs to function. Ouch! They are at the top of the food pyramid, in the “eat sparingly” category.

Chocolate consumption has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. Being stuck inside in front of the computer or Netflix didn’t help. However, chocolate consumption did decrease slightly last year - is the end of the pandemic hangover?

Easter is of course a critical time for chocolate sales. Data released last year found that more than half of Australians bought chocolate for Easter with AUD 62 the average amount spent.

During the rest of the year, 77.5% of Australians eat chocolate bars. Cadbury’s “Cherry Ripe” routinely tops surveys for Australia’s most popular chocolate bar. Other popular bars include Boost, Mars Bars, and Kit Kats.

While Australians lose out to the Swiss, Americans, and Germans in terms of per-capita chocolate consumption, Australians still ate a lot of chocolate last year (see chart below).

Snacks are eating into a healthy diet

38.5% of an average Australian’s daily energy intake is from discretionary food and drink.

To make matters worse, the consumption of discretionary foods is at the expense of the nutrients Australians need. The chart below shows that Australians are falling short of the recommended energy consumption for all key food categories - recommended consumption should be at the level of the blue circles.

Health impacts

Of course, diets are a key driver of health outcomes. With Australians more likely to eat chocolate than chards, it is unsurprising that the rate of obesity and type-2 diabetes continues to climb. 1 in 15 adults now have diabetes compared to 1 in 20 a decade earlier. For obesity, Australia is ranked 10th in the World and the median Australia is now overweight (see chart below).

Distribution of BMI among persons aged 18 and over, 2011–12 and 2022

Obesity has a cost in terms of individual lives and a social cost because of increased healthcare and welfare costs. The 2022-23 National Obesity Strategy put the cost at AUD 11.8 billion in 2018 with this expected to rise to AUD 87.7 billion by 2032. With the rise of Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs in recent years, AUD 87.7 billion may prove a conservative estimate.

Australia is not alone in dealing with obesity and its costs, however, while Australia’s obesity level is above the OECD average, its health spending on obesity and overweight related issues is below the OECD average (see chart below). This suggests that Australia is either more efficient in dealing with the issue or it is not doing enough to help people who are obese and overweight. The US is an outlier.

Final thoughts

With Easter behind us and an uncertain world economic outlook ahead, it may be time for Australians to do a little belt tightening. Hopefully, there will still be some wiggle room for the occasional daily chocolate. All we need is a study to prove a link between chocolate and productivity!