Food self-sufficiency is not about wealth.
Some of the richest countries on Earth import nearly half of what they eat, while some large exporters run big surpluses.
What determines it is land, water, and climate.
TL;DR
- The FAO defines a country below 80% self-sufficiency as a food-deficit country, 80 to 120% as self-sufficient, and above 120% as a surplus country.
- Japan’s food self-sufficiency sits around 40% on a calorie basis, among the lowest of major industrialized nations.
- The United States, Brazil, and Argentina are net exporters, running negative import dependency.
Import dependency here is based on FAO Food Balance Sheet data, which measures domestic supply against imports and exports.
Who Leans Hardest on Imports
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | Country | Food import position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | Japan | ~40% calorie self-sufficiency |
| 2 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | United Kingdom | imports ~46% of food consumed |
| 3 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | China | fell to ~77% self-sufficient, world's largest food importer |
| 4 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | Eritrea | food = 46% of total imports |
| 5 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 01/08/2026 03:38 AM | United States | net exporter |
NOTE: UK self-sufficiency is sometimes quoted as ~60% on a production-to-supply basis rather than an imported-share basis.
China’s self-sufficiency fell from 101.8% in 2000 to 76.8% in 2020, and it has been a net food importer since 2004 despite huge domestic production.
Water-scarce Middle Eastern and North African countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE often run cereal import dependency between 50 and 90%.
ALSO READ: How the World Measures Hunger, and Why the Numbers Disagree
Where the U.S., UK, and Canada sit, and why it differs
This is a case where the three core markets split sharply.
The United States is one of the world’s great net food exporters, with negative import dependency, sending out huge volumes of maize, soybeans, and wheat.
The United Kingdom is the opposite: it imports roughly 46% of the food it consumes, leaning heavily on Europe for fresh produce.
Canada, like the U.S., is a major net exporter of grains and oilseeds.
There’s a Self-sufficiency Illusion
A reassuring national average can hide real gaps.
A country can look self-sufficient in calories overall while importing nearly all of a critical category like vegetable oil or animal feed. Self-sufficiency is a portfolio, not a single number.
ALSO READ: The World’s Biggest Food Producers, Crop by Crop
ELI5
Some countries cannot grow enough food for everyone who lives there, so they buy a lot from abroad.
Even rich countries like Japan and the UK import a big share of their food.
The U.S. and Canada are the opposite: they grow far more than they need and sell the extra to the world.
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