PETALING JAYA: Malaysians are passionate about food, with rice being the most consumed food item in the country, according to Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu’s statement in September, which placed per capita rice consumption at 79kg per year or 1.5kg per week.
Aside from rice, the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s (DOSM) 2023 Selected Agricultural Indicators report provides insight into other food consumption habits in the country.
Chicken meat was the most consumed food item, with a per capita consumption of 48kg in 2022, followed by coconuts at 24.2kg and chicken/duck eggs at 22.6kg.
Chicken lovers
Malaysia ranks as one of the top global consumers of poultry meat, surpassing countries like Brazil, Canada, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The country’s annual chicken meat production averaged around 1.59 million tonnes from 2018 to 2022.
The king of fish
The popular type of fish in Malaysia was mackerel, comprising Temenong/Pelaling, Tenggiri, and Kembung, with a per capita consumption of 6kg last year. Shrimp and cuttlefish followed at 4.2kg and 2.5kg per capita respectively.
The real king of fruits
Coconuts were the most consumed fruit, with a per capita consumption of 24.2kg, followed by durian at 12.4kg and pineapples at 12.2kg.
Champion vegetable
Round cabbage recorded the highest per capita consumption among vegetables at 7.6kg, followed by mustard (sawi) at 4.5kg and tomato at 4.4kg.
Of the 52 items listed in the DOSM report, pineapples saw the biggest percentage jump in per capita consumption, rising by 45.2% in 2022 compared to 2021, while mango saw the biggest decline at 63.6% due to lower production.
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