According to the preliminary figures in Tike's (Information Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) Balance Sheet for Food Commodities, Finnish people consumed on average 80 kg of cereals, 71 kg of vegetables, 79 kg of fruit and 74 kg of meat last year. The Balance Sheet for Food Commodities compiled annually by Tike is a summary of the production, domestic use and consumption of the most important food groups in Finland.

60 % of cereals consumed was wheat whilst rye made up one fifth
The total consumption of cereals went down by a little less than one percent to 79.5 kg per capita. Over the past four years, the consumption of wheat has remained at approximately 48 kg per capita. The consumption of rye went down by a little over one percent to 15.5 kg per capita. The consumption of both oats and rice decreased by half a kilogram from the year before. In 2009, the consumption of oats was 4.9 kg per capita and the consumption of rice was 5.2 kg per capita. The consumption of barley was 1.4 kg which illustrates a 0.1 kg increase from the previous year.

Consumption of vegetables increased whilst fruit consumption remained unchanged
The consumption of fresh vegetables increased by 2.8 kg to 59.1 kg per capita. The increase was mainly due to the exceptionally good crop of vegetables grown in the open. The consumption of tomatoes went down by 0.3 of a kilogram from the previous year, totalling 11.6 kg. The consumption of other fresh vegetables increased by 3 kg to 47.4 kg. The total consumption of vegetables, including frozen and canned vegetables, was 71.4 kg per capita in 2009.

The consumption of fresh fruit remained near the previous year's level. The consumption of citrus fruit increased by 0.8 of a kilogram from the previous year, totalling 13.3 kg per capita. The consumption of other fresh fruit, however, went down by approximately one kilogram to 33.1 kg per capita. The consumption of conserved fruit was nearly the same as the previous year, 6 kg per capita.  Conversely, the consumption of fruit juices fell for the fourth year running.

Poultry meat consumption increased whilst the growth in the consumption of pork ended
The total consumption of meat decreased for the first time in years. The consumption of both beef and pork went down by approximately two percent. The poultry meat consumption, however, kept increasing and went up by almost two percent from the previous year. In 2009, 17.8 kg of beef, 34.4 kg of pork and 17.5 kg of poultry meat was consumed per capita. The total consumption of meat in 2009, including game and edible offals, was 73.9 kg per capita.

In 2009, the consumption of eggs was 9.5 kg per capita, which was approximately the same amount as the previous year.

Growth of yoghurt consumption slowed down
The consumption of liquid dairy products followed the same trend as previous years. The consumption of skimmed milk and yoghurt continued to increase, whilst the consumption of whole milk, low-fat milk, sour milk and viili (coagulated sour milk) decreased. The total amount of milk consumed in 2009 was 132.7 litres per capita, which was one percent less than in 2008. Slightly over half of this amount, 68.9 litres, was low-fat milk which fell by 3 percent. Skimmed milk accounted for 52.1 litres or 39 percent of the total amount of milk consumed. The amount illustrates an increase of 2 percent from the previous year.

The consumption of sour milk went down by 4 percent to 12.5 kg. The growth of yoghurt consumption slowed down. The consumption of yoghurt was 22.5 kg per capita, which illustrates only a half of a percent increase from the year before. The consumption of viili (coagulated sour milk) decreased by approximately two percent to 5.1 kg. The consumption of cream remained near to the previous year's level, totalling 6.9 kg. Last year, the total consumption of liquid dairy products was 184 kg i.e. approximately one percent less than in 2008.

Consumption of butter increased
The consumption of butter increased by 0.2 kg from the previous year, whilst the consumption of butter-vegetable mixtures decreased by 0.2 kg. In 2009, the per capita consumption of butter was 3 kg  and butter-vegetable mixtures 2.8 kg. There is no data available on the consumption of margarine last year. The consumption of vegetable oils is estimated to be 5.1 kg per capita. The consumption of sugar was 32.6 kg per capita, which was a little over half a kilogram more than in 2008.

About the statistics
Tike's Balance Sheet for Food Commodities includes 12 different food groups. The Balance Sheet calculates the domestic use of over 70 products based on the production, changes in stocks, exportation and importation. Domestic use is further divided into different uses: animal feed, seed use, raw material for industry and use as food. The annual per capita consumption figures for food products are calculated based on the food use. The tables related to the statistics are published on the Matilda Agricultural Statistics service website under the Balance Sheet for Food Commodities tab. The Balance Sheet for Food Commodities is also available as a publication (price 35.33 €).

For additional information:
Actuary Tarja Kortesmaa, Tel. +358 (0)20 77 21 372
E-mail addresses are in the format firstname.lastname@mmmtike.fi