Coffee Consumption by Country
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.
