Roy Morgan Research released the results of a snack food survey showing that 33 per cent of Australians bought potato chips in an average four-week period during the 12 months to March 2013. This was down slightly from 36 per cent in the year to March 2009. Other popular snack foods were chocolate-coated biscuits (20 per cent), savoury biscuits (19 per cent), and corn chips (16 per cent). In New Zealand, potato chips are even more popular, with 44 per cent having bought them in an average four-week period.>Australian Food News

A further Roy Morgan study in 2014 found that 41 per cent of Australians snacked on potato chips at least once a week, confirming that they were the nation’s most popular snack food. This rose to 60 per cent among teenagers but dipped to just 23 per cent of those 65+.

The second most popular snack food, according to this survey, was nuts (37 per cent) followed by savoury biscuits/crackers (32 per cent). These two choices were the most popular with people over 65.

Women were more likely to choose healthy snacks such as yoghurt, with 32 per cent eating natural/plain yoghurt at least once a week, compared to 20 per cent of men. Men were generally less concerned about the nutritional value of their snack food. Both sexes were equally fond of ice cream from the tub, which was the No.4 choice overall.

In 2020, Australians were still heavy snackers. Roy Morgan reported that:

“Over the past decade, the proportion of Australians who regularly consume packaged snacks has declined slightly, moving from 90.8% to 88.5%. Savoury snacks, such as potato chips, are the most popular choice of Australians, with two-thirds of adults eating them in an average week.”