A fresh plum contains about 30 calories. That’s based on a medium-sized plum weighing around 66 grams (about 2.3 ounces), which is the standard serving size used by the USDA. Plums are one of the lowest-calorie stone fruits you can eat, sitting well below peaches, nectarines, and cherries on a per-fruit basis.
Calories by Size and Quantity
Since plums vary in size, the calorie count shifts accordingly. A small plum (around 50 grams) has roughly 23 calories, while a larger one closer to 90 grams lands around 41 calories. The math is straightforward: raw plums contain about 46 calories per 100 grams, so you can scale up or down based on what’s in your hand.
If you’re snacking on two or three plums in a sitting, you’re looking at 60 to 90 calories total. That makes them an easy fruit to eat freely without much calorie tracking.
What Else Is in a Plum
Beyond the 30 calories, a single medium plum delivers about 7.5 grams of carbohydrates, with 6.5 grams of that coming from natural sugars. There’s just under 1 gram of fiber per fruit, which is modest. Plums contain almost no fat or protein.
The sugar in plums is a mix of fructose, glucose, and sorbitol, a naturally occurring sugar alcohol that gives plums a slightly laxative effect when eaten in larger quantities. Ripe plums contain roughly 2.5% fructose and 3.8% sorbitol by weight. This sorbitol content is part of why plums (and especially their dried form, prunes) have a reputation for aiding digestion.
Despite their sweetness, plums rank as a low glycemic index food, scoring 55 or below. That means they raise blood sugar gradually rather than in a sharp spike, making them a reasonable fruit choice for people watching their blood sugar levels.
Fresh Plums vs. Dried Prunes
Prunes are just dried plums, but the calorie density changes significantly once the water is removed. A single pitted prune contains about 23 calories, which sounds similar to a small plum. The difference is size: that prune weighs only about 9.5 grams compared to a plum’s 66 grams. Gram for gram, prunes pack roughly five times the calories of fresh plums.
This matters because it’s easy to eat a handful of prunes without thinking. Five or six prunes add up to around 115 to 140 calories, while eating five or six fresh plums (150 to 180 calories) feels like a much more substantial amount of food. If you’re counting calories, fresh plums give you far more volume and satiety for the same energy cost. Prunes do have more fiber per gram, though, which is why they’re commonly used as a digestive aid.
How Plums Compare to Other Fruits
- Apple (medium): 95 calories
- Banana (medium): 105 calories
- Peach (medium): 59 calories
- Nectarine (medium): 62 calories
- Plum (medium): 30 calories
- Cup of strawberries: 49 calories
Plums land at the low end of the spectrum, largely because they’re a smaller fruit. But even adjusted for weight, they remain a relatively low-calorie option. Their calorie density (about 46 calories per 100 grams) is comparable to strawberries and lower than bananas, grapes, or cherries.
Do Plum Varieties Differ in Calories
Red, black, and yellow plums are all nutritionally similar. The USDA groups them under a single profile because the calorie and sugar differences between varieties are negligible for practical purposes. You might notice that some varieties taste sweeter than others, and that’s a real difference in sugar composition, but it translates to only a calorie or two per fruit. Pick whichever variety you enjoy most without worrying about a meaningful calorie gap.