Concern Over Food and Water Supply Grows Among Europeans

Spain’s northeast Catalonia region is currently suffering its worst drought on record. And it’s not just Spain afflicted with this problem: The EU Commission’s Joint Research Center sounded the alarm earlier this year over how prolonged drought events have affected Europe for more than two years already and northern Africa for as many as six, which is “causing water shortages and hampering vegetation growth.”

Food and water supplies were not considered a particular issue among Europeans for a long time. But new data illustrates how that is starting to change. According to a survey by Statista’s Consumer Insights, as many as one in four respondents in France said that food and water security was one of the biggest challenges their country faced in 2023. The proportion was similarly high in the United Kingdom (24 percent), Spain (24 percent) and Italy (23 percent). In all four polled countries supply security has become a more widespread concern with each passing year.