According to the International Coffee Organization the world produces about 133 million bags of coffee a year and exports 93 million bags of coffee a year worth roughly $15 billion.
Global consumption in coffee year 2009/10 totaled around 133.9 million bags, of which 72 million bags were consumed in Importing Member countries, 21.2 million in non-member countries and 40.7 million in producing countries.
These are 70 kg bags (154 pounds). Coffee FAQ’s from Quartermaine states that you can make 40 cups of coffee (five ounces) from a pound of coffee beans.
Q: How many cups of coffee can I make with one pound of coffee grounds?
A: With a coffee to water ratio of two level measuring tablespoons per five ounces of water, you can make approximately forty cups of coffee.
So, 133 million bags x 154 pounds per bag x 40 cups per pound = 819,280,000,000 cups of coffee per year. This is a lot of coffee. Who drinks the most coffee?
Coffee Consumption Per Capita
If you are looking for serious coffee drinkers go north. The Atlantic posted an article showing countries that drink the most coffee.
America might be famous for running on coffee, but it doesn’t run on much. Not compared to a handful of other countries, anyway. When it comes to actual coffee consumption per person, the US doesn’t even crack the top 15. The Netherlands’ per-capita consumption of 2.4 cups a day is almost the same as those of the US, UK, Spain, and France combined.
Think of living in a cold climate where a hot cup of coffee not only warms your stomach but your hands as well.
Here is the coffee per capital leader board.
Nation and Cups per Day
- Netherlands, 2.414
- Finland, 1.357
- Sweden, 1.257
- Denmark, 1.231
- Germany, 1.201
- Slovakia, 1.188
- Serbia, 1.17
- Czech Republic, 1.152
- Poland, 1.128
- Norway, 1.076
- Slovenia, 1.076
- Canada, 1.009
- Belgium, 0.981
- Switzerland, 0.971
- New Zealand, 0.939
- USA, 0.931
- Austria, 0.803
- Costa Rica, 0.793
- Greece, 0.782
- Algeria, 0.765
Interestingly the list gets to # 18 before a coffee producing nation, Costa Rica, shows up. And the only Southern Hemisphere country represented, New Zealand, is so far south that it gets cold there. But, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden are not populous countries. Who drinks the most coffee by nation?
Coffee Consumption by Nation
The USA consumes the most coffee followed by Germany Japan and France. What these nations lack in per capital consumption they make up for in population size. According to e-imports.com, coffee statistics, there are 150,000,000 coffee drinkers in the USA.
Over 50% of Americans over 18 years of age drink coffee every day. This represents over 150 million daily drinkers. 30 million American adults drink specialty coffee beverages daily; which include a mocha, latte, espresso, café mocha, cappuccino, frozen/iced coffee beverages, etc.
By comparison to the 150 million US coffee drinkers, the population of the Netherlands is just under 17 million and Finland has five and a half million people. These folks are trying hard but there simply are not enough of them. Who drinks the most coffee? The USA does.