Food, Affluence and the Consumption Basket*

There are significant disparities across nations in incomes and spending. For example, consumers in the poorest countries spend more than half of their income on food, while in the richest, this is one‐tenth or less. We use data from the International Comparison Program for 176 countries to estimate cross‐country demand equations focusing on food and the associated Engel curve. We analyse the effects of food prices on the distribution of income and the links between the food sector and other goods and services. Also presented are measures of the “quality” of food consumption using a luxury–necessity approach, as well as projections of future world food demand.