Ireland and Denmark top confectionery consumption charts

The Irish manage to eat their way through 11.2kg each of chocolate confectionery a year, more than double the amount of the US, according to a report by Food from Britain.

Denmark has the highest sugar confectionery per capita consumption in the world at 7.81kg.

The Swiss are the second largest per capita consumers of chocolate with 10.7kg whilst Finland, at 6.61kg, consumes the second largest amount of sugar confectionery per capita.

Europe's two biggest chocolate markets in terms of value are the UK and Germany.

Despite the UK's chocolate market being worth £4.9 billion (€7 billion) in 2004, Brits only consume 9.8kg a year, putting them in third place.

Germany's chocolate confectionery market is the second biggest in Europe, worth £3.7 billion (€5.4 billion), and the German's per capita consumption is the world's fourth largest at 8.3kg.

Ireland's chocolate market is worth only £373.2 million (€544m) the twelfth biggest in Europe, although the emerald isle is the UK's biggest export market.

Switzerland has Europe's sixth most valuable chocolate market, worth £613.2 million (€894m).

In sugar confectionery the top two per capita consuming countries are also far from being the top markets in terms of value.

Denmark's market is ninth, £345.1 million (€503m), and Finland's is tenth, £262.7 million (€383m).

The UK and Germany lead the way again in terms of their sugar confectionery market's value.

The UK sugar confectionery market is worth £1.5 billion (€2.2bn), although only consumes 4.89kg per year, the fifth most per capita in the world.

Germany's is worth £1.4 billion (€2nb) with the sixth highest per capita consumer in the world at 4.4kg.