Sugar Consumption in the
United States
HE people of the United States
consume half their own
weight in sugar every year.
This may seem a startling
T
statement, but if we take the quanti
ty of sugar produced in the United
States and add to this the quantity
brought from our own islands and
the quantity imported from foreign
countries, and subtract therefrom the
amount exported, we get a grand
total of considerably more than 7bil
lion pounds consumed in the country;
and by dividing the population into
this grand total, we get an average
of 81% pounds per capita, speaking
in round terms, for 1910, and about
a like quantity for 1909. It is not
assumed, of course, that each person
necessarily consumes sugar equal to
one-half his individual weight; but
taking the total consumption and
comparing it with the total popula
tion in the section known as conti
nental United States, the average
yearly consumption of sugar is
found to be about 81% pounds per
capita.
In fact, the people of the United
States are larger consumers of sugar
per capita than those of any other
country of the world except England,
for which the latest figures show a
consumption averaging 86 pounds
per capita, against our own average
of 81% pounds per capita. The next
largest per capita consumption is in
Denmark, 77% pounds; followed by
Switzerland, 64 pounds; Sweden, 54
pounds; and Germany and Holland,
each about 43% pounds.
Not only is the United States the
second largest sugar consumer per
capita, but the total amount consum
ed annually is much greater than
that of any other country, aggregat
ing, as above indicated, more than
7 billion pounds per annum, against
about 4 billion pounds in England
and about 3 billion pounds in Ger
many.
