In a world where jokes about needing coffee to start the day are ubiquitous, and Starbucks is practically everywhere, uncovering exactly how much coffee people consume may just be a grande undertaking.

In this post, we’ll examine annual coffee consumption across 66 countries in terms of sheer volume and per capita. While the most significant consumer in volume alone may not be too surprising, the list changes drastically when population is taken into account.

We’ll also take a look at which countries are the largest producers of the nearly 20 billion pounds of coffee consumed in the world every year. Finally, we’ll explore how tea performs against that morning cup of joe.

View Coffee Consumption by Country in a full screen map

The US Tops Volume of Coffee Consumed Each Year

Coffee Consumption Rank	Country	Coffee Consumption (bags)	Coffee Consumption (lbs)
1	United States of America	26,651,000	3,525,314,327
2	Brazil	22,000,000	2,910,094,000
3	Germany	8,670,000	1,146,841,590
4	Japan	7,355,000	972,897,335
5	France	6,192,000	819,059,184
6	Italy	5,469,000	723,422,913
7	Indonesia	4,806,000	635,723,262
8	Russia	4,631,000	612,574,787
9	Canada	3,929,000	519,716,333
10	Ethiopia	3,781,000	500,139,337

Over 500 million pounds of coffee are consumed by each of the top coffee-consuming countries, with the United States in the lead. Americans consume a staggering 3,525,314,327 pounds of coffee each year. Brazil is next, with 2,910,094,000 pounds, followed by Germany, Japan, and France.

But how do these top countries fare once population is taken into account?

Per Capita Tells a Different Story (Nordic Supremacy)

Accounting for population, the US and Brazil fall to #24 and #12, respectively.

Meanwhile, the tiny country of Luxembourg leads the per capita consumption list with a remarkable 45 lbs of coffee per person per year. Rounding the numbers to the nearest pound, Finland (32), Sweden (22), Norway (22), and Denmark (17) also exhibit high per capita consumption, emphasizing the strong affinity for coffee across Nordic countries.

Other nations also maintain significant coffee consumption patterns, including Austria (17) and Switzerland (16). The Netherlands, Greece, and Germany follow them.

Moving on from consumption, it’s also interesting to delve into where our coffee beans come from.

Coffee Production Around the World

The following are the top producers of everyone’s favorite morning cup.

• Brazil: 7,699,936,764 lbs of coffee produced annually
• Vietnam: 4,032,755,354
• Colombia: 1,865,118,928
• Indonesia: 1,512,309,713
• Ethiopia: 971,362,922
• Honduras: 784,561,342
• Uganda: 728,740,448
• India: 659,744,765
• Mexico: 527,070,934
• Peru: 507,467,483

Brazil, the world’s second-largest consumer of coffee, also stands out as the largest producer by a significant margin, contributing over seven billion to the world’s coffee output. The field of coffee production appears to be particularly concentrated in South America and Southeast Asia.

But coffee isn’t the only drink loved by millions.

What About Tea?

The world consumes nearly 20 billion pounds of coffee every year. Yet many opt for a comforting cup of tea instead. The following countries consume the most tea each year:

• Turkey: 6.96 lbs of tea consumed annually per capita
• Ireland: 4.83
• United Kingdom: 4.28
• Iran: 3.30
• Pakistan: 3.30
• Russia: 3.05
• Morocco: 2.68
• New Zealand: 2.63
• Chile: 2.62
• Egypt : 2.23

While the largest consumer of tea — Turkey, with around seven lbs per capita — doesn’t come anywhere near the largest consumer of coffee — Luxembourg, with over 45 lbs per capita — the number is still significant.

Ireland, with a per capita consumption of around five pounds, stands out as another notable consumer of the hot beverage. Meanwhile, the UK, arguably the best-known country for tea, ranks third.

Both coffee and tea are among the world’s national drinks. Tea is the more popular choice as a national drink (36 countries) than coffee (25). Learn more by checking out our world’s national drinks map.

​​Size isn’t everything. Yet, when it comes to higher education, some universities stand out for their considerable enrollment numbers.

Among the 69 largest universities on our list, Indira Gandhi National Open University is the largest, with over seven million students enrolled. Beyond size, we’ll also look at the oldest among these large institutions and whether the largest are more likely to be public or private.

Top 10 Largest Universities by Country

View Largest Universities in a full screen map

Each of the 69 universities depicted on the map is the largest in its country. However, the top 10 have significantly higher enrollment figures than the smallest.

University	Enrollment
Indira Gandhi National Open University	7,140,000
National University, Bangladesh	2,097,182
Anadolu University	1,969,733
Universitas Terbuka	1,045,665
Islamic Azad University	1,000,000
Tribhuvan University	604,437
Ramkhamhaeng University	525,000
National Autonomous University of Mexico	349,515
University of South Africa	328,179
Spiru Haret University	311,928

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in India leads the list with a staggering 7,140,000 enrolled students. The National University in Bangladesh follows IGNOU with 2,097,182 students. Next is Anadolu University in Turkey, with 1,969,733 students, and Universitas Terbuka in Indonesia, with 1,045,665 students. Iran’s Islamic Azad University and Pakistan’s Allama Iqbal Open University also have enrollment numbers that break the million mark.

Six of the top ten universities are in Asia, though the count extends to seven if we include Turkey’s Anadolu University.

As for the US, the largest university is Texas A&M. This institution doesn’t even rank among the largest 30 across the globe; however, spread across 5,115 acres, it ranks ninth in terms of the largest US campuses. Founded in 1876, it’s not anywhere near the oldest, though, which we’ll examine next.

10 Oldest Large Universities

While we’ve just highlighted the top 10 largest universities, most were relatively recently established in the 20th century. However, there are far older large universities:

• University of Lisbon: founded in 1288
• Sapienza University of Rome: 1303
• University of Vienna: 1365
• KU Leuven: 1425
• Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo: 1538
• National University of San Marcos: 1551
• National Autonomous University of Mexico: 1551
• University of Amsterdam: 1632
• University of Helsinki: 1640
• Lund University: 1666

The largest university in Portugal, the University of Lisbon, was established more than seven centuries ago, in 1288. We could argue that the current university was established much later — in 1911, 1930, or even in 2013. Successive mergers aside, the institution can trace its roots back to the original University of Coimbra in 1288.

Following the University of Lisbon are two more public universities: Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Vienna, both founded during the 14th century. Speaking of public universities, let’s dive into the types of large universities.

Are the Largest Universities More Likely to Be Public or Private?

The largest university in the US, Texas A&M, is a public university. This designation means the state owns the university, or the government provides a significant amount of its funding. While the majority of large universities are public, there are other types too:

• Public: 59 of the largest universities
• Private: 7
• Semi-private: 1
• Public (formerly private): 1
• Private, state-funded: 1

So, 59 of the 69 universities we’re looking at are public or publicly funded institutions.
Private universities, or institutions that are not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments, follow, with a count of seven. The largest is Spiru Haret University in Romania, the only private university in the top ten. Additionally, there is a single semi-private university (Islamic Azad University).

One university also transitioned from private to public status (University College Dublin), while the other is private but state-funded (Belgium’s KU Leuven).

Explore More Top University Stats

Although large universities have their appeal, we know that the biggest doesn’t always mean the best. Explore our Map of Top Colleges in the US for a different perspective.

Nuclear testing is a controversial practice historically undertaken by nine countries around the world: Russia, the US, China, France, the UK, Pakistan, India, North Korea, and Israel. Just five of these countries have deployed 93 of the most potent bomb tests — exceeding the equivalent of 1.4 megatons of TNT each.

So, let’s delve into these bomb tests’ yields, deployment methods, and when they took place.

View Most powerful nuclear weapons tests in a full screen map

Yields of the Most Powerful Bomb Tests

We can’t discuss bomb testing without exploring the most formidable explosions. In this, the 93 tests range from 1 to 50 megatons. Yet only ten have had yields above ten megatons, which we’ll highlight now.

Name or Number	Country	Yield (megatons)
Tsar Bomba, Test #130	Soviet Union	50
Test #219	Soviet Union	24.2
Test #147	Soviet Union	21.1
Test #174	Soviet Union	20
Test #173	Soviet Union	19.1
Castle Bravo	USA	15
Castle Yankee	USA	13.5
Test #123	Soviet Union	12.5
Castle Romeo	USA	11
Ivy Mike	USA	10.4

Only the Soviet Union and the US are among the top 10 most powerful bomb tests. Also called Test #130, the Tsar Bomba stands out as the most potent, with a staggering yield of 50 megatons, making it the most powerful nuclear explosion in history. The Soviet Union tested it in 1961 at Novaya Zemlya. Following this are four additional significant Soviet tests, including Test #219 with a yield of 24.2 megatons and Test #147 with 21.1 megatons—all also tested at Novaya Zemlya.

The US has also conducted significant tests, with the 1954 Castle Bravo registering a yield of 15 megatons at Bikini Atoll, marking it as the most powerful American test. It’s worth noting that most of these tests involve air drops, so let’s take a closer look at deployment methods next.

How the Most Powerful Bomb Tests Were Deployed

From conventional air drops to cutting-edge missile warheads, the spectrum of testing types is broad:

• Air drop: 40 bomb tests
• Barge: 13
• Underground shaft: 9
• Tunnel: 7
• Parachuted: 6
• High alt rocket: 5
• Space rocket: 3
• Ground: 2
• Free air drop: 2
• Dry surface: 2
• Balloon: 2
• Parachute air drop: 1
• Missile warhead: 1

The majority of tests were through air drops (40), 75% of which were conducted by the Soviet Union. Air drops were also the most popular (4) among the 10 most powerful tests.

Barge tests (13) and underground shaft tests (9) were also notable as were tunnel (7) and parachute (6) tests. Check out the rest of the deployment methods on the map because we’re moving on to the years of these tests.

The 24-Year Span of the Most Powerful Tests

The end of nuclear bomb testing came on August 5, 1963, when the US, UK, and Soviet Union signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty.

Before the parties came to the table, the world saw 24 years of nuclear bomb tests, from 1952 to 1976. The most active years included 1962, during which 27 bomb tests were deployed. Of those, 17 tests were conducted by the Soviet Union, all at Novaya Zemlya, while 10 were from the US, albeit at multiple test sites (including at Kiritimati and Johnston Atoll).

Other notable years during this testing era included 1958 (15 tests), 1961 (11), and 1956 and 1968 (6 each).

You can also check out Locations of Nuclear Weapons in the United States and Worldwide on the BatchGeo blog.