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Bahrain, Turkey and Israel are the Middle East and North Africa region’s biggest eaters, a ranking of average daily calorie consumption this week showed.
Oxford University's online data-gathering website, Our World in Data, ranked 185 countries around the world according to their average daily kilocalorie consumption in its index.
Bahrain has become the world’s sole nation where daily calorie consumption exceeded the 4,000-kilocalorie benchmark, surpassing Ireland and the United States from the previous year. According to data, the average daily calorie consumption in the country reached 4,012 kilocalories. The ranking lists Turkey as the world’s top fifth biggest eater at 3,762.
Among the Middle East and North African nations, Israel and Algeria also made their way into the top 20 biggest eaters globally by consuming 3,570 and 3,519 calories daily, respectively.
The ranking, which placed Yemen 180th, showed that the average daily calorie consumption in the war-ridden country stood behind the recommended level of 2,000 kilocalories daily.
In the Middle East and North Africa region, the average calorie consumption rankings are as follows. The number on the outside is their global ranking:
1 Bahrain 4,012 kcal
5 Turkey 3,762 kcal
12 Israel: 3,570 kcal
15 Algeria: 3,519 kcal
22 Tunisia: 3,448 kcal
23 Lebanon: 3,443 kcal
33 Kuwait: 3,387 kcal
37 Morocco: 3,374 kcal
39 Oman: 3,368 kcal
51 UAE: 3,275 kcal
56 Libya: 3,240 kcal
59 Saudi Arabia: 3,203 kcal
64 Egypt: 3,167 kcal
83 Iran: 2,972 kcal
135 Sudan: 2,570 kcal
150 Syria: 2,417 kcal
159 Jordan: 2,307 kcal
172 Iraq: 2,179 kcal
180 Yemen: 1,957 kcal
The Central African Republic, where average calorie consumption stands at 1,957 kilocalories daily, ranked as the least calorie-consuming nation in the world.
The website noted that the figures, which are based on the UN’s international Food and Agriculture Organization’s data, rather represent “food available for consumption at the retail level” as they do not include consumption level waste.
