A medium raw apple (about 182 grams) contains roughly 95 calories. Per 100 grams, the USDA lists raw apples with skin at 52 calories. That makes apples one of the lowest-calorie fruits you can grab, mostly because they’re about 86% water.
Calories by Apple Size
Apple sizes vary more than most people realize, and so does the calorie count. A small apple (about 150 grams) has around 78 calories. A medium apple (182 grams) lands near 95. A large apple (about 223 grams) pushes closer to 116 calories. If you’re slicing one up, a cup of apple slices (roughly 110 grams) comes to about 57 calories.
Most nutrition labels and tracking apps default to the medium size. If your apple looks noticeably bigger than a tennis ball, you’re likely in the large range.
Do Different Varieties Have Different Calories?
Yes, but not by much. The calorie difference between a Granny Smith, a Gala, and a Fuji comes down to sugar content, and that range is relatively narrow. Sweeter varieties like Fuji and Golden Delicious carry more fructose, the dominant sugar in apples. Tarter varieties like Granny Smith carry less. But we’re talking a difference of maybe 10 to 15 calories per medium apple, not enough to matter for most people.
On average across cultivars, apples contain about 6.5 grams of fructose, 1.5 grams of glucose, and 4.8 grams of sucrose per 100 grams. Golden Delicious apples sit at the high end for fructose (around 8.1 g per 100 g), while varieties like Selena are lower (around 4.8 g per 100 g). That sugar composition affects sweetness and flavor more than it meaningfully changes the calorie picture.
What Makes Up Those Calories
Nearly all the calories in an apple come from carbohydrates. A medium apple has about 25 grams of total carbs, with roughly 19 grams of sugar and 4.4 grams of fiber. There’s almost no fat (less than half a gram) and minimal protein (about half a gram).
The fiber is worth paying attention to. About two-thirds of it is insoluble fiber (the kind that adds bulk), and one-third is soluble fiber, mainly pectin. Pectin slows digestion and triggers the release of hormones in your gut that signal fullness. This is why eating a whole apple tends to keep you satisfied longer than drinking apple juice with the same number of calories.
Skin On vs. Skin Off
Peeling an apple doesn’t change the calorie count in a meaningful way. A cup of peeled, boiled apple slices has about 91 calories, which is comparable to eating the same amount raw with skin. What you do lose is fiber. The skin holds a significant portion of the apple’s insoluble fiber, along with higher concentrations of certain vitamins and antioxidants. If you’re eating apples partly for their fiber and fullness benefits, keep the skin on.
Fresh vs. Dried Apples
This is where calorie counting gets tricky. Fresh apple: 52 calories per 100 grams. Dried apple: about 243 to 350 calories per 100 grams. Drying removes water but concentrates everything else, including sugar and calories, by roughly six to seven times. A small handful of dried apple rings can easily match the calories of two whole fresh apples, and it won’t fill you up the same way because the water and volume are gone.
Apple juice tells a similar story. A cup of unsweetened apple juice runs about 114 calories, roughly the same as a large apple, but without the fiber to slow absorption.
Apples and Blood Sugar
Despite their sugar content, whole apples have a low glycemic index of 39 (out of 100) and a glycemic load of just 6 per serving. For context, anything under 55 on the glycemic index is considered low, and a glycemic load under 10 is also low. This means eating a whole apple produces a slow, modest rise in blood sugar rather than a sharp spike. The fiber, particularly the pectin, is largely responsible for this. It forms a gel-like substance in your digestive tract that slows the rate at which sugar enters your bloodstream.
This is another area where form matters. Apple juice, with most of the fiber removed, has a higher glycemic response than a whole apple with the same amount of sugar.
How Apples Compare to Other Fruits
- Banana (medium, 118g): about 105 calories
- Orange (medium, 131g): about 62 calories
- Apple (medium, 182g): about 95 calories
- Grapes (1 cup, 151g): about 104 calories
- Strawberries (1 cup, 152g): about 49 calories
Apples fall in the middle of the pack. They’re heavier than an orange or banana because of their water content, which means you’re getting a larger, more filling piece of food for a similar calorie cost. Per gram, strawberries and watermelon are lower in calories, while bananas and grapes are slightly higher.