Concerning nations surveyed in Statista’s Consumer Insights, Americans were among those most worried about food and water security. While for most European nations, worry about the topic peaked during the coronavirus pandemic and the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, concern has remained elevated in the United States into 2025.
Food and water supplies were not considered a particular issue among developed countries for a long time. But the data illustrates how that is starting to change. As many as 1 in 5 respondents in France said that food and water security was one of the biggest challenges their country faced in 2025. The proportion was similarly high in the United Kingdom and Italy (23 percent), while it had fallen a little lower again in Spain (16 percent) and Germany (13 percent).
As wars continue to disrupt international trade and affairs in recent years, the realities of climate change, droughts and destructive fires are becoming more present and inflation has made groceries more expensive, more people are seeing how these and other issues can affect the security of their food and water supply even in richer countries. In the United States, major attacks on government benefit programs by the Trump administration might also add to peoples' feeling around food security.
