Coffee Consumption by Country

Coffee is one of those rare things that quietly connects a farmer in the hills of Ethiopia, a commuter in Tokyo, and a student in Helsinki cramming for exams. Globally, humans get through an estimated 400 billion cups of coffee a year, making it one of the most consumed drinks on the planet after water.

But when you ask “Which country drinks the most coffee?” the answer depends heavily on what you mean:

• Who drinks the most per person?

• Or which country consumes the largest total volume?

Those give very different lists.

This article walks through both angles — and, more importantly, why some nations are absolutely swimming in coffee while others still lean toward tea or other drinks. Along the way we’ll use recent data from the International Coffee Organization (ICO), the USDA, and global statistical databases to ground the story in real numbers.

1. The global coffee habit in numbers

To understand which countries drink the most coffee, it helps to start with the global picture.

A world powered by beans

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), global coffee consumption is currently running at around 169–177 million 60-kg bags per year, depending on the crop year and methodology — roughly 10–11 billion kilograms of coffee beans annually.

World demand keeps climbing:

• The ICO has estimated that world coffee consumption grew by about 4% in 2021/22, to more than 175 million bags, after a smaller rise the previous year.

• USDA projections suggest consumption will set new records again in the mid-2020s, even as supplies struggle to keep up.

In other words: coffee is not a mature, shrinking industry. It’s still expanding, especially in emerging economies.

2. How coffee consumption is measured

Before we rank countries, we need to clarify the units. Coffee data is messy, and different organizations use different measures.

Common ways to measure coffee drinking

1. Bags of green coffee (60-kg bags)

   • Used by the ICO, USDA, and commodity traders.

   • Great for trade and production statistics; less intuitive for everyday readers.

2. Kilograms of coffee per person per year (kg/capita)

   • Used by datasets like WorldPopulationReview and many national statistics offices.

   • Usually refers to roasted equivalent, but conversion assumptions can differ.

3. Cups per day or per year

   • Popular in surveys and media. For example, one analysis estimated the world drinks roughly 400 billion cups per year.

   • But cup size and brew strength differ wildly across cultures.

For comparing countries, analysts usually combine:

• Per-capita data to see where individuals drink the most.

• Total volume to see which economies exert the biggest pull on the global coffee market.

We’ll use exactly that approach.

3. Per-capita champions: who drinks the most coffee per person?

If you guessed “Finland” or “Sweden,” you’re not wrong — the Nordics really do drink a lot of coffee. But the newest global datasets also highlight some surprising small and developing countries.

The table below uses the WorldPopulationReview dataset for 2022, which combines national statistics and trade data to estimate both per-capita consumption and total tonnage of coffee consumed.

Table 1 – The heaviest coffee drinkers per person (2022)

At first glance, this list looks… odd. Why is Central African Republic (CAR) at the top? Where are Finland and Sweden? Let’s unpack what’s going on.

Why the Rankings Are Surprising — and What They Reveal

1. Small populations distort per-capita numbers
   Micro-states like Luxembourg, the Maldives, and the Marshall Islands have tiny populations, so even moderate imports can translate into extremely high kg/person figures. In places with large tourism sectors (Luxembourg, Maldives, Macau), a lot of coffee is consumed by visitors, but counted against the resident population.

2. Re-exports and informal trade
   In countries with weak data or strong re-export hubs, like CAR or some island economies, trade statistics may record coffee flowing through the country that doesn’t really match day-to-day local drinking habits. The dataset is transparent about drawing on trade flows and may overstate true consumption for some small or low-income nations.

3. But Europe really does drink a lot
   Despite the quirks, the table still shows very high per-capita consumption in parts of Europe, especially the Baltics and Central/Eastern Europe. That lines up with other sources: European reports routinely note that the EU as a whole is one of the largest coffee markets in the world in both volume and per-capita terms.

So, for a more intuitive picture, many analysts focus on mid-sized and larger economies where the data is less distorted. In that world, the classic heavyweights re-emerge:

• Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and the Netherlands all show per-capita consumption well above 7 kg/person in recent datasets and maps of coffee vs tea consumption.

In those countries, drinking coffee is not a quirky niche hobby. It’s an all-day habit woven into work breaks, social rituals, and even national identity.

4. Big volume buyers: who drinks the most coffee overall?

Per capita is about intensity. Total volume is about economic weight.

For that we can turn to a 2023 dataset compiled by ReportLinker, based largely on ICO and national data. It ranks countries by total domestic consumption of green coffee, measured in thousand 60-kg bags.

Table 2 – Top 10 coffee-consuming countries by total volume (2023)

(Values converted from thousand to million 60-kg bags.)

A few things jump out:

• The United States is the world’s largest coffee consumer in absolute volume.
  That’s not because Americans drink the most per person — they don’t — but because there are so many coffee-drinking Americans. WorldPopulationReview estimates around 5 kg/person per year in the U.S. (roughly three cups a day), about average for rich countries but multiplied by a population of 330+ million.

• Brazil is both a coffee super-producer and a super-consumer.
  It is the world’s largest producer and the second-largest consumer, with over 24 million 60-kg bags consumed domestically in 2023.

• Asia’s emerging coffee nations are climbing fast.
  Countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam show stronger growth rates than mature markets. That aligns with reports that rising incomes and café culture are boosting coffee demand across Asia.

Now let’s dig into the stories behind these rankings.

5. Europe’s coffee cultures: from fika to tiny espressos

Even if recent global tables are skewed by micro-states, Europe remains the planet’s most coffee-centric region.

The Nordics: coffee as a survival tool

• Countries like Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland regularly appear near the top of per-capita coffee rankings.

• Long, dark winters and short days make caffeine an almost practical necessity.

• Coffee breaks are culturally embedded — Finland’s kahvitauko, Sweden’s famous fika — dedicated moments in the workday for coffee and pastries.

While the exact kg/person figures differ by source and year, Nordic adults commonly drink 3–4 cups per day, often filter coffee served black, refilled again and again.

Central and Eastern Europe: strong brews and social rituals

Datasets show Baltic and Balkan countries (Estonia, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Greece, Croatia) with very high per-capita consumption, often above 8–10 kg/person.

Here, coffee is:

• A social anchor: lingering in cafés is part of daily life.

• Often brewed strong, sometimes with sugar or spices, influenced by both Ottoman (Turkish coffee) and Central European traditions.

Western Europe: big markets with varied styles

Western European countries like Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain also rank high in both volume and per-capita terms:

• Germany alone consumes over 7 kg/person per year in some datasets and is also a top global consumer in total volume.

• In Italy, espresso culture dominates — small, concentrated shots taken at the bar.

• In Spain, recent reporting suggests consumption has risen to about 4.2 kg per person per year, equivalent to roughly 562 cups.

Across Europe, the common thread is that coffee is not just fuel; it’s part of hospitality, business meetings, politics, and everyday life.

6. The United States: the world’s biggest coffee market

In absolute terms, no country drinks more coffee than the United States.

Volume vs per-capita

• As we saw in Table 2, the U.S. consumed about 28.4 million 60-kg bags of coffee in 2023, more than any other country.

• That translates to over 26 million bags and roughly 517 million cups per day in recent U.S. consumption estimates.

• On a per-person basis, Americans drink around 5 kg per year, which puts the U.S. somewhere in the middle of developed economies for intensity.

So Americans don’t necessarily drink more coffee individually than Finns or Dutch people; there are just far more coffee-drinking Americans.

Why the U.S. drinks so much coffee

Several forces drive this:

1. Coffee-to-go culture
   American coffee is often designed for mobility — big paper cups, drive-throughs, and office drip machines. That boosts volume even if individual cups are milder.

2. The rise of chains and specialty coffee
   Brands like Starbucks, Peet’s, Dunkin’, and many independent roasters have normalized coffee as an essential daily purchase. This has also pushed consumers toward higher-quality beans and espresso-based drinks, increasing both spending and the perceived value of coffee.

3. Work culture and productivity narratives
   Coffee is deeply tied to the idea of getting things done — early meetings, late-night study sessions, coding marathons — making it socially acceptable (even expected) to have several cups a day.

4. At-home convenience
   Pods, capsules, and single-serve machines have made it easy to brew café-style drinks at home, further lifting consumption.

The U.S. is therefore the country where coffee has arguably become most commercialized and branded, even if the most caffeine-obsessed individuals still live elsewhere.

7. Brazil and Latin America: producers who drink their own product

Latin America is the heartland of coffee production, but it’s also a major consumer.

Brazil: producer, exporter, and heavy drinker

Brazil is:

• The world’s largest coffee producer by far.

• The second-largest consumer in absolute terms, drinking roughly 24.1 million 60-kg bags in 2023.

Historically, Brazil exported the best beans and kept lower-grade coffee for domestic use, but that’s changing as specialty cafés and a growing middle class develop a taste for higher-quality coffee.

However, there are signs of economic pressure on consumption:

• A recent Brazilian industry survey reported that about 24% of respondents cut back on coffee consumption in 2025, compared with just 3% in 2023, largely due to rising prices and inflation.

So even in a coffee-loving country, household budgets can shift habits.

Other Latin American consumers

• Mexico and Colombia appear in the global top-10 list for total consumption, with around 2.6 and 1.95 million 60-kg bags consumed domestically in 2023.

• Many smaller producers — Ethiopia, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru — also have strong domestic coffee cultures, though a large share of their best beans is exported to Europe and North America.

What’s interesting about Latin America is that the same plant is both a key export commodity and a staple of daily life. Coffee is drunk in households across income levels, often sweetened and served in small cups.

8. Asia’s coffee surge: from tea lands to café nations

If you want to know where the next wave of coffee demand is coming from, look to Asia.

Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines: producer-consumers on the rise

As Table 2 shows, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines are all in the global top 10 by volume, and they’re also among the fastest-growing:

• Indonesia: 5.44 million bags, +2.18% YoY.

• Philippines: 3.87 million bags, +2.9% YoY.

• Vietnam: 3.19 million bags, +3.24% YoY.

These countries are traditionally coffee producers, but rising incomes, urbanization, and youth culture are fueling more domestic consumption, especially in cities.

In many Southeast Asian cities, you now see:

• Dense networks of cafés, chains, and convenience stores.

• Hybrid beverages that blur Western coffee with local flavors — iced coffee with condensed milk, coffee-tea mixes, sugary bottled drinks.

Japan and South Korea: convenience and café culture

Japan is the third-largest coffee consumer in absolute terms, with over 8 million 60-kg bags consumed in 2023.

• Vending machines, canned coffee, and convenience stores mean coffee is available literally everywhere.

• At the same time, Japan has a rich tradition of kissaten (old-school coffee houses) and, more recently, third-wave specialty cafés.

South Korea isn’t yet top-10 in volume, but its per-capita consumption has been rising quickly, with strong café culture, franchise chains, and coffee playing a major role in urban lifestyle branding.

China and India: the sleeping giants

China and India still drink far more tea than coffee, but:

• Coffee chains and independent cafés are spreading rapidly in Chinese and Indian cities.

• Young, urban professionals increasingly see coffee as part of a modern, cosmopolitan lifestyle.

• Specialty chains and global brands are investing heavily in these markets.

From a global market perspective, even small increases in per-capita consumption in China and India could translate into massive additional demand because of their huge populations.

9. The Middle East and Africa: deep traditions, mixed numbers

Some of the world’s oldest coffee cultures are found in the Middle East and Africa — but the data can understate their importance.

Ethiopia: coffee’s birthplace

Ethiopia, often considered the historical home of coffee, appears in the global top-10 consumption list with around 4.13 million 60-kg bags consumed in 2023.

• Coffee ceremonies, where beans are roasted, ground, and brewed in front of guests, are integral to social life.

• Much consumption is informal and domestic, so some of it may not be perfectly captured in trade-based statistics.

Middle East: strong coffee, strong competition from tea

Countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf states have long traditions of:

• Turkish or Arabic coffee — strong, often spiced, served in small cups.

• Coffee as part of hospitality and religious holidays.

At the same time, tea remains the dominant hot drink in many of these societies. Per-capita coffee consumption varies widely and may be lower than European levels but still culturally important. Maps comparing coffee vs tea consumption show the Middle East as a mixed zone between “coffee world” and “tea world.”

North and Sub-Saharan Africa

In North Africa and parts of Sub-Saharan Africa:

• Coffee competes with tea, soft drinks, and local beverages.

• Economic constraints limit consumption in some low-income countries, even when people enjoy coffee.

The headline numbers may not fully reflect the cultural weight of coffee in these regions, especially where traditional preparation methods and informal markets dominate.

10. Why some countries drink more coffee than others

So what actually drives coffee consumption by country? A few recurring themes show up across the data.

1. Climate and daylight

Cold, dark, or long-winter countries tend to drink more coffee. Think:

• Nordic countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland).

• Canada and parts of Northern Europe and Russia.

Coffee provides:

• A warm, comforting drink in cold climates.

• A stimulant to cope with short winter days and seasonal fatigue.

This isn’t a strict rule — there are hot countries with huge coffee cultures — but it’s a clear pattern.

2. Income levels and urbanization

Higher GDP per capita and more urban life tend to correlate with higher coffee consumption:

• Coffee outside the home — in cafés, chains, or restaurants — is a discretionary expense.

• Urban professionals often treat coffee as both a workplace necessity and a social activity.

• In emerging markets, as incomes rise, consumers often trade up from tea or instant coffee to higher-quality beans and café drinks.

That’s why the fastest growth rates are in places like Vietnam, the Philippines, and parts of China and India, where urban middle classes are expanding.

3. Historical trade routes and colonial legacies

Europe’s coffee habit is partly rooted in:

• 17th–19th century trade networks linking European ports to plantations in the Americas, Africa, and Asia.

• Colonial rule that structured entire economies around coffee, sugar, and other crops.

Former colonial powers (like France, the Netherlands, the UK) and their former colonies often share coffee styles and preferences — think French café culture, Dutch influences in Indonesia, or British chains expanding in India.

4. Coffee vs tea cultures

Many countries fall clearly into:

• “Coffee world” – the Americas, Nordics, much of Western and Central Europe, where coffee is dominant.

• “Tea world” – much of Asia, the UK, parts of North Africa and the Middle East, where tea remains the main hot drink.

But the lines are blurring:

• The UK, long a tea nation, now has a massive coffee shop sector.

• China’s young consumers drink more coffee than previous generations.

• In North Africa and the Middle East, coffee chains coexist with traditional tea houses.

The balance between coffee and tea often reflects deep cultural histories, but economic and generational change can shift it.

5. Price and economic shocks

Coffee is a global commodity. When prices rise sharply:

• Importing countries may see consumers trade down (buying cheaper blends or instant coffee) or reduce consumption.

• Producing countries, where coffee is part of daily life, may feel squeezes more acutely.

For example, in Brazil, surveys in 2025 showed a significant share of consumers cutting back on coffee as inflation and higher coffee prices bit into household budgets.

6. Out-of-home vs at-home consumption

Some countries drink most of their coffee at home (Nordics, parts of Eastern Europe), while others have strong café cultures (Italy, Spain, urban Asia) or to-go cultures (United States, Canada):

• Where cafés dominate, consumption is closely tied to urban lifestyle and socializing.

• Where at-home brewing dominates, factors like pod machines, grocery prices, and supermarket brands play a larger role.

Different mixes of these channels shape both total volume and how visible coffee is in everyday life.

11. How coffee habits are changing

Coffee consumption is not static. Several trends are reshaping who drinks how much, and in what form.

Specialty and premiumization

In wealthy countries, growth is shifting from quantity to quality:

• More consumers seek single-origin beans, fair-trade or organic labels, and lighter “third-wave” roasts.

• This doesn’t always mean more kilograms of beans per person, but it does mean higher spending per cup.

European and North American markets show this shift clearly in market reports that highlight specialty coffee’s outperformance of traditional supermarket blends.

Health and wellness concerns

There’s ongoing debate about:

• How much coffee is “healthy.”

• Whether caffeine intake contributes to sleep problems or anxiety.

Most major health organizations now say moderate coffee consumption (often defined as up to 3–4 cups per day) is safe for most adults and may even have health benefits. That has likely helped normalize fairly high per-capita consumption in many countries.

Sustainability and ethics

Younger consumers in rich countries increasingly care about:

• The carbon footprint of coffee.

• Fair pay for farmers.

• Deforestation and land use in producing regions.

This doesn’t necessarily reduce consumption, but it can:

• Shift demand toward specific origins or certifications.

• Increase willingness to pay for ethically sourced coffee.

Economic pressures

High inflation and commodity shocks (droughts in Brazil, supply chain issues) have pushed coffee prices up in recent years, prompting:

• Downtrading (switching to cheaper blends or instant coffee).

• Reduced consumption among lower-income households, as seen in Brazil.

At the same time, in emerging markets with rising incomes, coffee demand continues to climb, offsetting stagnation or small declines in mature markets.

12. So who really “drinks the most coffee”?

After all this, we can finally answer the original question — with a few nuances.

If you mean per person…

The picture depends on which dataset you trust and how you treat micro-states and statistical quirks.

• Recent global tables suggest surprisingly high per-capita consumption in small countries like Luxembourg, the Maldives, and some Pacific or African states — but these numbers are heavily affected by tourism, trade re-exports, and data noise.

• If you focus on larger, well-measured economies, long-standing evidence still points to the Nordic and central European countries — Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, the Netherlands, Estonia, etc. — as the truest coffee-per-person champions, often drinking over 7–10 kg/person per year.

If you mean total volume…

Here the answer is much clearer:

• The United States drinks the most coffee in absolute terms, consuming around 28–29 million 60-kg bags per year.

• Brazil is a close second, followed by Japan, Indonesia, Russia, and Ethiopia.

These countries matter most for global coffee demand, commodity prices, and the health of the coffee industry as a whole.

And if you ask “why”…

Countries drink a lot of coffee when they combine:

• Climate and daily rhythm that favor hot, caffeinated drinks.

• High incomes and urban lifestyles that support a café and to-go culture.

• Historical trade links and cultural rituals built around coffee.

• Stable or rising economic conditions that keep coffee affordable.

That’s why the Nordics, much of Europe, North America, and increasingly urban Asia are the center of global coffee consumption — each for slightly different reasons, but all united by the same basic habit: starting the day, and often continuing it, with a cup of coffee.