Coffee

Caffeine (Coffee) Consumption By Country

top coffee consuming countries

Here is a list of the Top 50 coffee consuming countries as well as the type of caffeine consumption by country worldwide.

The first set of data was provided to us by euromonitor.com and comes with the following caveat:

These per capita figures refer to the dry weight of coffee (measured in metric tonnes) rather than brewed volume which is the final amount of liquid product the consumer drinks that is prepared by pouring hot liquid over the dry volume product of coffee.

Because the conversion factor to reach brewed volume varies from market to market, depending on preferred strengths, etc., looking at dry volume figures across countries provides a more apples to apples comparison. – Beverages Analyst, Dana LaMendola

Well anyway, here’s what their 2013 data revealed about the amount of coffee consumed by country per capita (per person on average).

Top 50 Coffee Consuming Countries

  1. Finland: 9.6 kg per capita
  2. Norway: 7.2 kg per capita
  3. Netherlands 6.7 kg per capita
  4. Slovenia: 6.1 kg per capita
  5. Austria: 5.5 kg per capita
  6. Serbia: 5.4 kg per capita
  7. Denmark: 5.3 kg per capita
  8. Germany: 5.2 kg per capita
  9. Belgium: 4.9 kg per capita
  10. Brazil: 4.8 kg per capita
  11. Bosnia-Herzegovina: 4.3 kg per capita
  12. Estonia: 4.2 kg per capita
  13. Switzerland: 3.9 kg per capita
  14. Croatia: 3.8 kg per capita
  15. Dominican Republic: 3.7 kg per capita
  16. Costa Rica: 3.7 kg per capita
  17. Macedonia: 3.6 kg per capita
  18. Italy: 3.4 kg per capita
  19. Canada: 3.4 kg per capita
  20. Lithuania: 3.3 kg per capita
  21. France: 3.2 kg per capita
  22. USA: 3.1 kg per capita
  23. Poland: 3.1 kg per capita
  24. Hungary: 3.1 kg per capita
  25. Spain: 3 kg per capita
  26. South Korea: 2.6 kg per capita
  27. Algeria: 2.6 kg per capita
  28. Australia: 2.6 kg per capita
  29. Portugal: 2.6 kg per capita
  30. Slovakia: 2.5 kg per capita
  31. Latvia: 2.5 kg per capita
  32. Greece: 2.4 kg per capita
  33. Czech Republic: 2.3 kg per capita
  34. Bulgaria: 2.3 kg per capita
  35. Tunisia: 2.2 kg per capita
  36. Singapore: 2.1 kg per capita
  37. Guatemala: 2 kg per capita
  38. Romania: 1.9 kg per capita
  39. Israel: 1.8 kg per capita
  40. The UK: 1.7 kg per capita
  41. Thailand: 1.6 kg per capita
  42. Venezuela:  1.6 kg per capita
  43. Japan: 1.5 kg per capita
  44. Colombia: 1.4 kg per capita
  45. Malaysia: 1.3 kg per capita
  46. Hong Kong: 1.3 kg per capita
  47. New Zealand: 1.3 kg per capita
  48. Georgia: 1.3 kg per capita
  49. Philippines: 1.2 kg per capita

There you have it. The USA has a long way to go if they’re ever going to out caffeine Finland as do most other countries around the world.

But, look who is the overall largest buyer of coffee worldwide.

Top 5 Countries by Sheer Tonne Coffee Consumption

top-coffee-consuming-countries

Countries Who Pay the Most for Coffee

Recently Datahero.com put together not only a list of the countries who consume the most coffee, but also the countries that pay the most for their coffee. Here are the top 6.

  1. Japan
  2. Italy
  3. Portugal
  4. Cyprus
  5. Austria
  6. Denmark

How Countries Consume Caffeine

In 2018 a large review of data from Euromonitor looked at caffeine consumption per country. They determined the percentage of caffeine-containing beverage volume sales per beverage. 

In other words: Of the caffeine a country consumes, how much is from coffee, tea, soft drinks, and so on.

Chart of Caffeine consumption per country

Caffeine Milligram Consumption per day

This data is old (1995) and it doesn’t include energy or soft drinks. However, it still provides some interesting insight on caffeine consumption throughout the world.

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Caffeine Source (mg / day)
Country Coffee Tea Maté Cocoa All Sources
Algeria 79 5 0 1 85
Angola 4 0 0 4
Argentina 43 1 52 5 100
Australia 202 29 0 0 232
Austria 276 8 0 16 300
Brazil 26 1 10 4 40
Canada 180 18 0 12 210
China 2 14 0 0 16
Colombia 126 0 0 9 136
Denmark 354 15 0 21 390
Egypt 5 53 0 1 58
Finland 322 6 0 1 329
France 215 8 0 16 239
Germany 292 9 0 12 313
Guatemala 23 2 0 2 27
Honduras 160 0 2 162
Hungary 138 3 0 9 150
India 1 26 0 0 27
Ireland 81 127 0 5 213
Italy 198 3 0 8 210
Ivory Coast 6 1 0 13 20
Japan 119 44 0 5 169
Kenya 8 42 0 0 50
Kuwait 49 112 0 13 173
Malaysia 49 27 0 4 81
Netherlands 369 38 0 6 414
Nicaragua 219 0 1 221
Nigeria 1 2 0 1 4
Norway 379 8 0 13 400
Paraguay 51 1 101 3 156
Poland 100 33 0 8 141
Russian Fed 26 40 0 7 72
Saudi Arabia 14 13 0 2 28
South Africa 15 23 0 1 40
Sweden 388 12 0 7 407
Switzerland 275 11 0 1 288
Syria 35 67 5 2 108
Tanzania 3 4 0 0 7
United Arab Emirates 74 87 0 5 167
United Kingdom 92 96 0 14 202
United States 143 12 0 12 168
Venezuela 135 0 0 4 139

 

You can read more about this research in Pharmacological Reviews, Vol. 51, Issue 1, 83-133, March 1999 “Actions of Caffeine in the Brain with Special Reference to Factors That Contribute to Its Widespread Use” (link).

 

References

  • Reyes, C., & Cornelis, M. (2018). Caffeine in the Diet: Country-Level Consumption and Guidelines. Nutrients, 10(11), 1772. doi:10.3390/nu10111772
  • Bertil B. Fredholm, Karl Bättig, Janet Holmén, Astrid Nehlig and Edwin E. Zvartau. (1999) Actions of Caffeine in the Brain with Special Reference to Factors That Contribute to Its Widespread Use | Pharmacological Reviews. from https://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/51/1/83.full

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