Sugar consumption is a driving force behind tooth decay as well as obesity, diabetes, and other systemic health issues. And it is a global problem as well, as Protectivity Insurance has tallied how much sugar is consumed per capita in each country around the globe.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) leads the world, with each person there consuming 214 kg of sugar each year, or 53,591 teaspoons. Sugar consumption is so prevalent there that the government has enacted a 50% tax on soda and 100% tax on energy drinks.
Though they didn’t crack Protectivity’s top 20, the United States and the United Kingdom both have significant consumption rates. The United States has a 34-kg rate, or 8,597 teaspoons, while the United Kingdom sees 30 kg or 7,616 teaspoons.
Protectivity’s top 20 also includes:
- Djibouti: 193 kg, 48,329 teaspoons
- Belize: 106 kg, 26,426 teaspoons
- Bahrain: 93 kg, 23,257 teaspoons
- Mauritania: 87 kg, 21,672 teaspoons
- Cuba: 68 kg, 16,905 teaspoons
- Belarus: 62 kg, 15,619 teaspoons
- Guyana: 60 kg, 15,106 teaspoons
- Malaysia: 57 kg, 14,226 teaspoons
- Israel: 56 kg, 14,119 teaspoons
- Lebanon: 53 kg, 13,359 teaspoons
- Trinidad and Tobago: 52 kg, 12,900 teaspoons
- Brazil: 51 kg, 12,678 teaspoons
- Costa Rica: 51, kg, 12,633 teaspoons
- New Zealand: 50 kg, 12,551 teaspoons
- Peru: 50 kg, 12,529 teaspoons
- Saudi Arabia: 50 kg, 12,495 teaspoons
- Laos: 49 kg, 12,207 teaspoons
- Australia: 48 kg, 12,034 teaspoons
- Switzerland: 46 kg, 11,583 teaspoons
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