Top 10 countries in coffee production and consumption
Coffee has become a part of the daily life of hundreds of millions of people around the world for mood and health purposes. Knowing the top coffee-producing and consuming countries in the world may be something new for many.
Before we begin, it might be helpful to mention that there are two types of coffee: Arabica and Robusta. So, what is the difference between Arabica and Robusta?
A report published by “The Roasters Pack,” a coffee news website, highlighted the differences between Arabica and Robusta as follows:
Taste: Robusta coffee has a bitter taste due to its higher caffeine content and chlorogenic acid compared to Arabica coffee, which has a more moderate taste.
Caffeine: Robusta beans contain up to 2.7% caffeine compared to only 1.5% in Arabica beans.
Fat and Sugar: Arabica coffee contains 60% more fat than Robusta, and about double the amount of sugar. This might be one of the factors why many people prefer the taste of Arabica.
Price: The price of Robusta coffee is about half that of Arabica coffee in the markets.
Yield: The higher caffeine level in Robusta coffee makes it more tolerant and resistant to pests on the farm, reducing the cost of cultivating Robusta compared to Arabica.
Shape: Arabica beans are oval-shaped, while Robusta beans are round. This is because the Arabica tree is shorter than the Robusta, resulting in oval-shaped beans.
Tree Height: Arabica trees reach between 2.5 and 4.5 meters, while Robusta trees range from 4.5 to 6 meters in height.
Chlorogenic Acid: The percentage of this acid plays a crucial role in the taste of coffee. It ranges from 7% to 10% in Robusta compared to 5.5% to 8% in Arabica, explaining the bitter taste of the former.
Production: The total coffee production in the world is divided into 75% Arabica and 25% Robusta.
Top Coffee-Producing Countries: In December of last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture published a detailed report ranking the top coffee-producing countries by both Arabica and Robusta types.
Here is the ranking of the world’s top Arabica coffee-producing countries in the 2022/23 season according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture:
- Brazil: 39.8 million bags (1 bag = 60 kilograms)
- Colombia: 10.7 million bags
- Ethiopia: 7.3 million bags
- Honduras: 5.7 million bags
- Peru: 3.4 million bags
- Guatemala: 3.15 million bags
- Mexico: 3 million bags
- Nicaragua: 2.5 million bags
- India: 1.667 million bags
- China: 1.6 million bags
The ranking of the world’s top Robusta coffee-producing countries in the 2022/2023 season according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture is as follows:
- Vietnam: 26.3 million bags
- Brazil: 22.8 million bags
- Indonesia: 10.5 million bags
- Uganda: 5.575 million bags
- India: 4.2 million bags
- Malaysia: 1 million bags
- Ivory Coast: 1.050 million bags
- Thailand: 700 thousand bags
- Mexico: 545 thousand bags
- Tanzania: 520 thousand bags
The ranking of the world’s top coffee-producing countries (Arabica and Robusta) in the 2022/23 season according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture is as follows:
- Brazil: 62.6 million bags
- Vietnam: 27.2 million bags
- Indonesia: 11.85 million bags
- Colombia: 10.7 million bags
- Ethiopia: 7.3 million bags
- Uganda: 6.565 million bags
- India: 5.867 million bags
- Honduras: 5.7 million bags
- Mexico: 3.545 million bags
- Peru: 3.4 million bags
Production Outlook for 2024: The report predicts that the total coffee production, for both types, will reach 171.425 million bags by December 2024, with Brazil leading the list of producing countries with a total of 66.3 million bags, followed by Vietnam with 27.5 million bags, and then Colombia with 11.5 million bags.
The Top Coffee-Exporting Countries by Value: The famous American statistics website “Statista” published a list of the top coffee-exporting countries in 2023 as follows:
- Brazil: $7.4 billion
- Switzerland: $3.6 billion
- Germany: $3.5 billion
- Netherlands: $1.199 billion
- United States: $1.193 billion
- Canada: $763 million
- Poland: $538 million
- Mexico: $433 million
- United Kingdom: $234 million
- Canada: $228 million
The World’s Top Coffee-Consuming Nations: The statistics website “World of Statistics” posted a list of the world’s top coffee-consuming nations in 2023 on its official Twitter page as follows:
- Finland: Average annual coffee consumption per person is 9.6 kilograms.
- Norway: 7.2 kilograms
- Netherlands: 6.7 kilograms
- Sweden: 6.5 kilograms
- Slovenia: 6.1 kilograms
- Australia: 5.5 kilograms
- Serbia: 5.4 kilograms
- Denmark: 5.3 kilograms
- Germany: 5.2 kilograms
- Belgium: 4.9 kilograms
Top Coffee-Consuming Arab Countries: According to the 2020/2021 statistics released by the International Coffee Organization, the ranking of the top coffee-consuming Arab countries is as follows:
• Algeria: 2.13 million bags. • Egypt: 1.27 million bags. • Saudi Arabia: 1.25 million bags. • Morocco: 780 thousand bags. • Sudan: 702 thousand bags. • Lebanon: 452 thousand bags.
