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Every year, the infant food industry develops, manufactures and distributes enough food in the form of infant formula, milks, cereals, meals, juices and other products to satisfy the nutritional needs of some 70 million infants and young children around the world.
Independent market research data on sales of these foods shows they are available in approximately two-thirds of the world, comprising a population of about 4 billion, with 82 million births per year. The total world population is about 6 billion, with 130 million births each year. The markets not represented in this data (for example, countries in sub-Saharan Africa) represent a minimal proportion of the total consumers of processed foods for infants and young children (1).
Consumption
The total expenditure on foods for infants and young children in this two-thirds of the world is about US$ 15.9 billion (€ 18.1 billion), amounting to approximately 1.9 million tonnes (dehydrated weight) of products. While this figure may seem impressive, it represents a very small fraction of what infants and young children actually consume. It also represents a very small percentage of overall food production by the manufacturers of these infant foods. By comparison, the total annual expenditure on all packaged food and drink is approximately US$ 2,500 billion (€ 2,856 billion.)
North America and Western Europe record only 8.7 million births per year, yet they are the principal consumers of infant and baby foods. With their greater purchasing power and demand for product convenience, they buy over half of the total output in value terms. On the other hand, Asia and Australasia, with about 56 million births per year, consume 35 percent of the total. South America accounts for about 8 percent of total consumption, while the Middle East and North Africa consume 3 percent.
About 70,000 people work in the infant food industry at research, development, production and marketing.
(1) The data refers to markets surveyed by ERC, Newmarket, UK, and includes companies that are not members of IFM.
Last Updated: May 2003
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