Yummy Australian Chocolate Consumption Statistics for 2024

australian chocolate consumption statistics

Chocolate is one of life’s greatest delights but did you know that this delectable dessert has been around since ~1100 BC? Luckily, it’s evolved far beyond its original “bitter water” meaning.

To find out the answers to questions such as “How much chocolate does Australia consume per capita?”, chomp down on these Australian chocolate consumption statistics and see how your own snacking habits compare.

10 Mouthwatering Chocolate Consumption Stats

  • Chocolate industry statistics indicate that the USA is the world’s leading confectionery market.
  • In 2022, Australians spent an average of AU$196.96 per capita on chocolate products.
  • 49% of adult Aussies munched on candy and chocolate regularly in 2021.
  • Low-income individuals accounted for 35% of all chocolate consumers in Oz in 2021.
  • In 2021, 56% of Aussies said they liked milk chocolate the most.
  • ALDI’s Choceur was Australia’s favourite chocolate block in 2021.
  • In 2022, the revenue from chocolate confectionery Down Under amounted to AU$5.13 billion.
  • There are 429 chocolate and confectionery manufacturers in Australia as of 2022.
  • The chocolate confectionery price per unit in 2022 Down Under was AU$25.8.
  • The chocolate market in Australia is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.79% by 2027.

Australian Chocolate Consumption Statistics

1. In 2022, Australians spent an average of AU$196.96 per capita on chocolate products.

(Statista)

Chocolate industry statistics reveal that Aussies are happy to splurge on confectionery goods, spending an average of AU$644.73 on them a year as of February 2022. That is a sizable chunk of the average Australian’s annual spend on groceries.

2. 49% of adult Aussies munched on candy and chocolate regularly in 2021.

(Statista)

Their love affair with sweetmeats also extended to jams and chocolate spreads, which 28% of the respondents consumed frequently as well.

3. 14.2 million Australians aged 14+ ate chocolate in a given month in 2019.

(Roy Morgan)

What’s more, these Australian chocolate consumption statistics showed that 2.13 million of them indulged in all types of chocolates—in bar, block or boxed form.

4. In 2019, chocolate bars were consumed by 10.98 million Ozzies.

(Roy Morgan)

As many as 77.5% of Australians ate chocolate bars in 2019 while 62.9% or 8.91 million of them opted for chocolate blocks.

Boxed chocolates were the least popular, picked by just 31.1% or a total of 4.4 million Aussies that year. Naturally, there was some overlap between these preferences:

Australian Chocolate Consumption Statistics

5. Aussie millennials preferred chocolate bars in 2019.

(Roy Morgan)

In turn, Gen X showed an affinity towards chocolate blocks whereas Gen Zers were more likely to go for boxed chocolates.

6. Who consumes the most chocolate in Australia?

(Statista) (Roy Morgan)

Chocolate secondary research in 2019 showed that women are bigger chocolate aficionados, and accordingly, 55.1% of confectionery consumers in October 2021 were found to be female and 44.9%, were male.

Additionally, Victoria residents turned out to be the biggest chocoholics Down Under in 2019, earning it the unofficial title of “Australia’s chocolate capital”.

7. Millennials made up 25.2% of Australia’s confectionery consumers in 2021.

(Statista)

In 2021, Aussies aged 25-34 dominated the chocolate and confectionery market in Australia in terms of consumption, followed closely by Gen Xers aged 35-44 with 23.3%.

People aged 45-54 were the third largest confectionery consumers with a 19.8% share, with those in the 45-54 bracket close on their heels with 17.8%.

Gen Zers i.e. those aged 18-24 indulged in confectionery products the least, at just 13.8%.

8. Low-income individuals accounted for 35% of all chocolate consumers in Oz in 2021.

(Statista)

The love of desserts is fairly evenly distributed across income brackets Down Under.

However, those with the least means come ever so slightly ahead of high-income earners’ 33.1% share in terms of confectionery consumption.

Medium-income individuals, in turn, came in last with just 31.9%.

9. 43% of parents of children aged 6-11 bought chocolate blocks in 2020.

(Roy Morgan)

In some more good news for the chocolate industry in Australia, parents are overrepresented among snack purchasers Down Under. Namely, 39% of those who had children between the ages of 6-11 bought choccy bars that year.

Similarly, 42% of people who had children under the age of five purchased blocks and 37% got bars.

Those who had kids aged 12-17, however, were more likely to shop for blocks (40%) than bars (34%).

Australian Chocolate Consumption Statistics

10. Only 12.3% of confectionery purchases were made online in 2022.

(Statista)

Of these, 55.9% were ordered over a desktop computer and 44.1% via smartphone.
Even though the remaining 87.7% of Aussies bought their sweets in physical stores in 2022, online purchases have been gaining a foothold, not just in the confectionery industry. For instance, shopping went up by 5.4% last year, which means an increase in the number of online confectionery purchases is sure to follow.

11. In 2021, 56% of Aussies said they liked milk chocolate the most.

(CANSTAR Blue)

Unsurprisingly, Australians, who consume 97 litres of milk per capita, pick milk chocolate as their number one choice. On the other hand, 34% named dark chocolate as their fav while just 9% were white chocolate lovers.

Not only that but 28% of Australians admitted that chocolate was their go-to snack. Also, 23% had bought it as a gift for loved ones and as many as 33% added it to their trolley whenever they went grocery shopping.

In addition, Australian chocolate manufacturers would be happy to hear that 59% of consumers aren’t loyal to any one brand and only 32% have a preferred one, whereas 17% went for whatever option was the cheapest or discounted.

12. ALDI’s Choceur was Australia’s favourite chocolate block in 2021.

(CANSTAR Blue)

A survey of Australian consumers’ preferred chocolates brands found that surprisingly, this discount supermarket’s range that comes in a variety of flavours beat the competition handily in 2021.

The remaining highest-rated choccy blocks were:

  • Lindt Excellence
  • Cadbury
  • Darrell Lea
  • Nestlé
  • Coles’ in-house range

13. Australia’s top-rated chocolate bar in 2021 was Turkish Delight.

(CANSTAR Blue)

The same survey also uncovered Aussies’ preferences when it came to chocolate bars, with the ranking being:

  1. Turkish Delight (Cadbury)
  2. KitKat (Nestlé)
  3. Caramilk (Cadbury)
  4. Twirl (Cadbury)
  5. Cherry Ripe (Cadbury)
  6. Crunchie (Cadbury)
  7. Mars Bar (Mars)
  8. Snickers (Mars)

Therefore, if you’ve been wondering “how much Cadbury chocolate does Australia consume?” it’d appear that the answer is “a lot”.

14. Ferrero Rocher was the best-boxed chocolate brand Down Under in 2021.

(CANSTAR Blue)

The gold foil-wrapped balls came squarely ahead of its chocolate box competitors in 2021: Lindt Lindor and Cadbury Favourites.

15. Just 12.5% of Aussies drank hot chocolate in 2019.

(Roy Morgan)

While coffee is Australians’ beverage of choice, 2.5 million of them also sipped on hot chocolate in an average week in 2019. The drink was most popular among Gen Zers, with 19.5% of them consuming it.

Australian Chocolate Industry Statistics

16. In 2022, the revenue from chocolate confectionery Down Under amounted to AU$5.13 billion.

(Statista)

The latest Australian confectionery industry profile indicates that out of total revenue of AU$16.8 billion in 2022, baking goods such as preserved pastries and cakes raked in the most money at AU$7.36 billion, with chocolate goods coming in second.

Sugar confectionery brought in AU$2.69 billion and ice cream just AU$1.62 billion.

17. There are 429 chocolate and confectionery manufacturers in Australia as of 2022.

(IBIS World) (TechSci Research)

Further, these companies employ a total of 10,278 people.

The top five players in the Ozzie chocolate market are the local subsidiaries of:

  • Mondelēz
  • Mars
  • Lindt & Sprüngli
  • Nestlé
  • Ferrero

18. Oz has an average chocolate confectionery volume of 7.6 kg per capita.

(Statista)

Australia’s chocolate confectionery volume increased from 196.3 million kg in 2021 to 199.1 million kg in 2022.

19. The chocolate confectionery price per unit in 2022 Down Under was AU$25.8.

(Statista)

As of February 2022, chocolate has the highest price per unit of all confectionery goods and it’s only projected to rise over the next five years to AU$26.2 in 2027.

20. Australia was the world’s ninth largest chocolate importer in 2022.

(Trend Economy) (Statista)

The most recent stats show that Oz exported cocoa-containing and chocolate goods worth over US$223 million dollars in 2020.

Australian importers, in turn, brought in about US$500 million worth of chocolates in 2022.

21. New Zealand imported the most Australian chocolate in 2020.

(Trend Economy)

Neighbouring NZ accounted for 45% of Aussie exports of chocolatey goodness in 2020 for a worth of US$106 million.

Other major export destinations for Australian chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa that year were:

  • Japan (13.5%/US$31 million)
  • Malaysia (7.24%/US$16.8 million)
  • Singapore (4.53%/US$10.5 million)
  • Hong Kong (4.34%/US$10.1 million)

Future Chocolate Market Trends in Australia

22. The chocolate market in Australia is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.79% by 2027.

(TechSci Research)

Analysts foresee that by 2027, the average chocolate confectionery revenue Down Under will reach US$5,402.23 million.

23. Dark chocolate beats out other Australian chocolate market segments in terms of sales.

(TechSci Research)

The dark chocolate segment was the fastest-growing between 2017 and 2022, expected to expand further at a CAGR of 8.29% in 2023-2027 as consumers become more conscious about health and nutrition.

In response, manufacturers are creating new products containing functional foods and organic ingredients.

General Chocolate and Confectionery Consumption Statistics

24. The global revenue of the confectionery sector amounts to US$1.38 trillion million as of 2022.

(Statista)

The worldwide revenue of the confectionery segment, which encompasses foods high in sugar from chocolate and ice cream to sweets (but not cocoa and jam), was AU$181.25 per person in 2022, with a projected volume of 17kg per individual.

25. Chocolate industry statistics indicate that the USA is the world’s leading confectionery market.

(Statista)

The top five countries that boasted the highest confectionery revenues in 2022 were:

26. The US imported US$3.22 billion worth of chocolate in 2021.

(Statista)

Expectedly, Americans topped the import charts as well. The second biggest importer was the United Kingdom with US$2.56 billion while France was third with US$2.21 billion. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that Western Europe had the largest chocolate industry market share overall and Belgium was the country that exported such products the most.

Stats Are Like a Box of Chocolates—You Never Know What You’re Gonna Get

So, the gist of it is that Aussies mightn’t be the biggest cocoa fiends out there but they come mighty close. In any case, the growth opportunities of the chocolate industry Down Under are looking pretty good.

We hope that these Australian chocolate consumption statistics have satisfied both your sweet tooth and your intellectual curiosity and have given you even more appreciation of this ”food of the gods”. Bon appétit!

Sources:

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