According to FAO data, about one-third of all food produced worldwide is discarded. Reducing this food waste by 50 % at the retail and consumer levels until the year 2030 is a societal challenge currently faced by the German government as well. The German National Strategy for Food Waste Reduction and German’s Strategy for Sustainable Development address this topic. The draft of a baseline presented here provides a basis for decision-making for the calculation and reporting of food waste 2015 in Germany. Data and methods as well as the results, including the quality report, are also compliant with the relevant EU Delegated Decision for future reporting. The baseline calculation is based on data from 2015, whereby surveys either originate from this year, or are transferred from the most recent surveys of other years. This applies in particular to the applied coefficients derived from waste analyses, surveys and accounting data, or other records. The total amount of food waste produced in 2015 in Germany amounts to almost 11.9 million tons of fresh mass, with primary production accounting for 12 % (1.36 million tons); processing 18 % (2.17 million tons); trade 4 % (0.49 million tons) and out-of-home catering for 14 % (1.69 million tons). The bulk of food waste is generated in private households at 52 % (6.14 million tons), which is equivalent to about 75 kg per capita in 2015. Across all sectors, about half of the waste could theoretically be avoidable. Both the quality of the data and the data analysis are assessed. Uncertainties in the data situation exist above all in the areas of primary production, processing and trading. In particular, the retail sector influences food waste in the upstream sector due to quality claims and returns as well as in the consumer sector due to purchase incentives. Coordinated cooperation with actors from primary production, processing and trading as well as consumption is necessary in order to improve the data situation and optimize interfaces in the future. The present baseline reports the food waste in tons of fresh mass without considering its value and the trends. This is not enough for a sustainability assessment. In the future, ecological, economic and social inferences from the baseline would have to follow. For example, they could support the Climate Action Plan 2050. Significant changes over time also shed light on positive or negative trends, and thus provide a gauge of overall trends in combination with measures to reduce food waste.