Tea or coffee. What drink is most consumed after water?

Highlights: In 2020, global consumption of tea is expected to reach 7.4 billion kilograms. In 2016, Turkey was the world's largest tea consuming country. In the same year, the U.S. was the largest tea consumer in the world. In 2021, the United States will be the largest coffee consuming country, followed by Germany and France. In 2020, the world will consume 4.5 billion kilograms of tea, according to the United Nations. In 2015, the number of people drinking tea in the United Kingdom was 2.2 billion.

Coffee or tea? It seems to be a long and ongoing debate about the most popular hot drink, and regardless of our personal preferences or the most consumed drink in our country, in whose interest will this debate be settled?

Although it is difficult to provide an accurate percentage of tea and coffee consumption globally, as it can vary depending on the source of data, the time period studied and other factors, we tried in the report to obtain time-close statistics for both coffee and tea from a single statistics site, to be closer to accurate.

In this report we take a tour of the interesting figures and information about the consumption of hot drinks around the world.

Tea is the most consumed drink in the world after water

Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world after water, according to a report by the United Nations. According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water.

In 2020, global consumption of tea reached about 6.3 billion kilograms, and it is estimated that it will reach 7.4 billion kilograms by 2025, and this includes different types of tea whose degree depends on oxidation levels, including green, yellow, brown and black, according to estimates by the statistics and market figures site Statista.

Most tea manufacturers and exporters

It is believed that this aromatic drink originated in China in 2737 BC. According to legend, a Chinese emperor was sitting under a Camellia sinensis tree while his servant was boiling drinking water, the wind pushed some leaves from the tree into the water, and the emperor decided to try the drink that his servant made by accident.

In 2021, China exported nearly US$2.30 billion of tea, making it the leading exporter of tea worldwide. Other major tea exporters in the same year included Sri Lanka and Kenya. China also topped the world's tea production, making 2.8 million tons of tea in 2019, and in that year more than half of the tea produced in China was green tea, according to statista statistics.

The most importing countries for tea

In 2021, Pakistan was the leading country in importing tea in the world, with imports worth about 598 million US dollars, and the United States ranked second that year with about 532 million dollars, according to statistics of tea importing countries provided by "Statista".

The largest tea consuming country

In 2016, Turkey was the world's largest tea consumer, with a per capita tea consumption of 6.96 pounds per year. In contrast, China's annual consumption was 1.25 pounds per capita.

In 2016, Turkey was the world's largest tea consuming country (Pixels)

And what about coffee?.. How many million bags are consumed annually?

Despite the popularity of tea, coffee is considered one of the most consumed beverages in the world, in statista statistics for the year 2020-2021, it was found that about 166.63 million coffee bags, or about 10 million tons, were consumed worldwide, and the coffee market for this year 2023 is expected to grow to reach 495.50 billion US dollars.

Largest Coffee Suppliers & Exporters

In 2021, the United States was the world's largest importer of coffee, followed by Germany, France and Italy, while the main exporters in 2021 were Brazil, Switzerland and Colombia, according to figures provided by Statista.

Most coffee consumption is done outside the home (Pixels)

Coffee consumption outside the home is more than inside

Since we are talking here about coffee, including its hot and cold drinks and its different types such as espresso, cappuccino and americano, it is often not surprising to know that most of the coffee consumption takes place outside the home.

In 2022, Statista estimates that 82% of global coffee revenues come from out-of-home consumption in cafes and restaurants, compared to only 18% for revenues from household consumption, which is expected to decrease by two degrees by 2025.