Aussies chocolate nuts, but we're not far behind

Australians are bigger choco-hogs than New Zealanders, but both nations have the dubious reputation of being among the world's leaders at munching Easter eggs.

Each year 5.4kg of confectionery on average goes down the throat of every Australian man, woman and child - putting them 14th in the world.

Included in this basin-full of sugar snacks is 2kg of chocolate per head.

New Zealanders chomp through significantly less confectionery, at 4.2kg, including 1.67kg of chocolate, leaving them outside the world's top 20.

This weekend Australians will be working their way through the 20 Easter eggs they consume per capita - from cream-filled tiddlers to 400g hollow chocolate whoppers.

The source of the statistics, Melbourne-based Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia, lacks figures on New Zealanders' Easter eating habits, but estimates consumption is similar on both sides of the Tasman, despite the different confectionery counts.

"They are probably very close, mainly because they are similar markets, in terms of cultural similarities," a spokesman says.

It is held that Australians eat more Easter eggs than any other nationality but the spokesman is uncertain. "We're probably up there."

Britons are big chocolate eaters too, he says, consuming about 9kg annually of confectionary per head, second only to the Swiss, on 10kg.

New Zealand spent $19.8 million on Easter confectionery last year at supermarkets, fractionally more than in 2004, according to research by ACNielsen ScanTrack, although this does not include other retailers.

Supermarkets merchandising manager Mark Brosnan, of Progressive Enterprises, said shelves were stocked with Easter eggs six weeks ahead of the holiday weekend. "They're selling well."