Vitamin K2 daily requirement: which number applies
Futures Nutrition Editorial Team · 11 August 2026
Vitamin K2 daily requirement: which number applies
In short: there is no separate daily requirement for vitamin K2. Every reference value that applies in Germany and the EU refers to vitamin K as a whole — and it was derived essentially from data on vitamin K1. For adults there are three figures that sit close together and still mean different things: 75 µg as the nutrient reference value behind the percentage on the label, 60 to 80 µg as the DGE estimated value depending on age and sex, and 70 µg as the adequate intake according to EFSA.
That also explains the number buyers stumble over most often. When a tub says “200 µg vitamin K2 (267 % NRV)”, those 267 % are not a multiple of a K2 requirement. They are the percentage of 75 µg — the reference value for vitamin K as a whole. This article sorts the values apart, shows the intake figures by age group, and works out how much vitamin K German diets actually supply.
Three values that are constantly mixed up
| Value | Vitamin K, adults | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nutrient reference value (NRV) | 75 µg/day | reference figure for the % on the label | Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII |
| Estimated value for an adequate intake | 60–80 µg/day | what should be taken in | D-A-CH / DGE |
| Adequate intake (AI) | 70 µg/day | European reference value, 1 µg per kg body weight | EFSA Journal 2017;15(5):4780 |
| Tolerable upper intake level (UL) | not derived | no upper level set, for lack of data | EFSA 2017; earlier SCF 2003 |
| Proposal for food supplements | 80 µg K1 · 25 µg K2 per daily portion | recommendation of the BfR, not law in force | BfR, maximum level proposals for vitamin K |
The NRV is the only one of these values that is legally binding — but not as a requirement, rather as a rule for calculating what goes on the label. The DGE estimated value and the EFSA value describe the intake regarded as adequate. And the last row is something else entirely: a proposal for product design that does not come from any calculation of requirement.
Intake by age and sex
For vitamin K the DGE does not give a recommendation but an estimated value for an adequate intake — the distinction is deliberate: the data are not solid enough for a recommendation. The values apply to vitamin K as a whole, not to K1 or K2 separately.
| Age | male | female |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to under 4 months | 4 µg | 4 µg |
| 4 to under 12 months | 10 µg | 10 µg |
| 1 to under 4 years | 15 µg | 15 µg |
| 4 to under 7 years | 20 µg | 20 µg |
| 7 to under 10 years | 30 µg | 30 µg |
| 10 to under 13 years | 40 µg | 40 µg |
| 13 to under 15 years | 50 µg | 50 µg |
| 15 to under 51 years | 70 µg | 60 µg |
| 51 years and older | 80 µg | 65 µg |
| Pregnant and breastfeeding women | — | 60 µg |
EFSA takes a different route and derives the adequate intake from body weight: 1 µg per kilogram per day, in every age and sex group. With the reference body weights used, that gives the 70 µg quoted above for adults — and for children, values that come very close to the D-A-CH figures. Two bodies, two methods, practically the same result: that suggests the order of magnitude is right, even though the data are thin.
Why there is no separate value for K2
EFSA derived its adequate intake explicitly for phylloquinone, that is vitamin K1. On the absorption, distribution and fate of the menaquinones (K2), the data were not sufficient to justify a reference value of their own. So there is no “daily requirement for MK-7” — there is a value for vitamin K, and MK-7 counts towards it.
The authorised health claims are worded the same way: they apply to the nutrient vitamin K, not to a particular form. Which forms exist and why supplements almost always contain MK-7 is set out in Vitamin K2 MK-7 all-trans.
What the diet contributes
Before considering a supplement it is worth looking at what lands on the plate anyway. The data situation in Germany is patchy, but clearer than many expect. The second National Nutrition Survey did not record vitamin K at all, so older and regional surveys are used instead — the ones the BfR compiles in its assessment:
| Survey | Group | Vitamin K intake |
|---|---|---|
| German Health Survey 1998, nutrition module | adults | 404 µg/day (east), 431 µg/day (west), mean |
| EsKiMo (KiGGS module) | children 6–11 years | 162.4–190.9 µg/day, median |
| 2nd Bavarian Food Consumption Survey, 1,050 people | 13–80 years | 112.3 µg/day (women), 128.4 µg/day (men), median |
| EPIC-Heidelberg, 25,540 people | 40–65 years | 93.6 µg/day vitamin K1 · 34.7 µg/day vitamin K2, median |
| EU-wide analysis | adults | 70–250 µg/day, means |
The second-to-last row is the most interesting one because it is the only one that separates the forms: around 35 µg of daily vitamin K comes from menaquinones, the rest from K1. And the first row shows why these figures should not be taken to the microgram — 404 µg is far above anything the other surveys find. The BfR names the reason itself: the vitamin K entries in the German nutrient database are of low quality, so every estimate carries a matching uncertainty.
Across all surveys the finding stays stable, though, and the BfR sums it up like this: the German consumption data give no indication of an inadequate supply of vitamin K — neither in the general population nor in individual age groups. Anyone taking vitamin K2 is therefore not closing a measured gap, but in almost every case adding a companion to vitamin D. Why the two are offered together is explained in Vitamin K2 and calcium; the range itself is in the Vitamin D3 + K2 category.
Where the K2 in food comes from
K1 and K2 come from different corners of the menu. Vitamin K1 is mainly in green vegetables and vegetable oils — kale, spinach, chard, broccoli, rapeseed and soya oil. Vitamin K2, by contrast, is produced by bacteria and is found in fermented and animal foods: cheese and quark, meat, liver, egg yolk, butter and, far ahead of everything else, the Japanese natto made from fermented soybeans (Schurgers and Vermeer, Haemostasis 2000;30:298–307).
For central Europe that means in practice: the K2 share of intake comes from cheese. Anyone who eats few dairy products and has never met natto will tend to sit lower on K2 — but not on vitamin K as a whole, as long as green vegetables reach the plate.
What “267 % NRV” on the tub means
The percentage on the pack is a simple division: amount divided by NRV. For the usual strengths that looks like this:
| Amount per daily dose | Share of the NRV (75 µg) |
|---|---|
| 25 µg | 33 % |
| 50 µg | 67 % |
| 75 µg | 100 % |
| 100 µg | 133 % |
| 200 µg | 267 % |
The striking gap between the BfR proposal of 25 µg K2 and the 200 µg common on the market has a different background than a toxicity limit — for vitamin K there is no such limit. The proposal comes from the interaction with coumarin-type anticoagulants: in the studies drawn on, a statistically measurable drop in INR appeared from 150 µg/day of vitamin K1 but already from 45 µg/day of vitamin K2; K2 was thus about 3.5 times more potent, and with an uncertainty factor of around 2 one arrives at 25 µg. What that means for high-dose preparations is broken down in Vitamin K2 overdose.
In our own range the K2 amount in the combination products is 100 or 200 µg MK-7 per tablet or capsule, for instance in the Vitamin D3 4,000 IU + K2 200 µg MK-7 – 365 tablets. Pure K2 preparations and further combinations are in the vitamin K2 category.
The rhythm shifts the number
Under § 4 (3) of the German Food Supplements Regulation (Nahrungsergänzungsmittelverordnung), the percentage refers to the daily portion stated on the label — that is, to the portion the manufacturer intends. With depot preparations, though, that portion is not a daily one: one tablet every ten or every twenty days appears on the same pack as the percentage figure. So anyone who wants to know how much vitamin K arrives per day has to divide once more, by the interval.
| Preparation | K2 per unit | Rhythm per the label | K2 per day on average | Share of the NRV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| D3 4,000 IU + K2 200 µg | 200 µg | daily | 200 µg | 267 % |
| D3 4,000 IU + K2 200 µg | 200 µg | every 2nd day | 100 µg | 133 % |
| Liposomal D3 5,000 IU + K2 100 µg | 100 µg | every 5 days | 20 µg | 27 % |
| D3 10,000 IU + K2 200 µg | 200 µg | every 10 days | 20 µg | 27 % |
| D3 20,000 IU + K2 200 µg | 200 µg | every 20 days | 10 µg | 13 % |
Between the first and the last row lies a factor of twenty, even though in four of the five cases the same 200 µg is printed on the label. The lower half of the table is the remarkable part: the depot preparations sit at 10 to 20 µg K2 as a daily average and therefore below the BfR proposal of 25 µg per daily portion — the very figure a 200 µg product taken daily shoots far past. The big number on the front says nothing about this. How the K2 amount relates to the vitamin D strength, and why the widespread rule of “100 µg K2 per 1,000 IU” has no basis, is worked through in Vitamin D3 to K2 ratio.
Who should watch the amount
For the general population the intake from food is unremarkable, and no upper level exists. Two groups are nevertheless affected by the amount directly.
People on coumarin-type anticoagulants. Vitamin K is the counterpart of these medicines. For vitamin K-containing food supplements the BfR expressly recommends a note that these people should seek medical advice before consumption. What matters is less the level than the consistency: an even vitamin K intake makes it easier to set the dose, a sudden change disturbs it.
Anyone combining several preparations. Vitamin K is in multivitamins, in D3-K2 combinations and in bone preparations with calcium. The amounts add up; the percentages on the individual tubs do not.
What may be said about vitamin K
Two claims are authorised in the EU (Regulation (EU) No 432/2012), and they apply to vitamin K as a nutrient:
- Vitamin K contributes to the maintenance of normal bones.
- Vitamin K contributes to normal blood clotting.
Food supplements are not a substitute for a balanced and varied diet and a healthy lifestyle.
Frequently asked questions
How much vitamin K2 do I need per day? There is no value that answers this — the reference values apply to vitamin K as a whole, and for adults they lie between 60 and 80 µg per day. Set against that, the K2 share of the usual diet works out at a measured 35 µg or so daily. No target figure specifically for K2 can be derived from this, because nobody has set one.
Do 200 µg MK-7 cover the daily requirement several times over? On paper yes, measured against the NRV of 75 µg. No upper level is exceeded by it, because none has been derived for vitamin K for lack of data. The BfR proposal of 25 µg for K2 in food supplements is a recommendation on product design and comes from the interaction with medicines, not from a threshold for poisoning.
Is the requirement higher in old age? The D-A-CH estimated values rise slightly from the age of 51, to 80 µg for men and 65 µg for women. That is an adjustment to body weight and to the data, not an indication of any special extra need.
Do the values apply to infants as well? The table gives 4 µg for the first four months — that is the estimated value for intake from food. To be seen separately from it is the vitamin K given to newborns in Germany as part of the U1, U2 and U3 screening examinations; that is medically regulated and has nothing to do with food supplements.
