Top 5 Lists: Which Country Drinks the Most Coffee

America may be known for running on coffee, but not too much. Not compared to several other countries, anyway. When it comes to actual coffee consumption per person, the US doesn’t even crack the top 15. So which country drinks the most coffee?

5 – Austria: 5.5 kg per capita (consumption of 1.51 cups/day)

Austria is famous for waltzes, classical composers and Viennese coffee house. First opening in 1638, the coffeehouse is a special breed of cafe that is known for a specific atmosphere and culture. You will find patrons browsing the freely distributed newspapers and in general staying for hours. This would explain the country’s one and half cups of coffee per day with a total consumption of 63,984,000kg in 2012.

4 – Slovenia: 6.1 kg per capita (consumption of 1.68 cups/day)

Like Serbia, Slovenia coffee is usually brewed as Turkish coffee or “Turška Kava” served in tiny cups, sometimes with milk or whipped cream.

Like many other Europeans, Slovenes linger in the cafes better known to locals as “kavarana,” sipping 1.68 cups per day. This translates to 9,327,000kg for only 2 million people. That’s really a lot!

3 – Netherlands: 6.7 kg/capita (consumption of 1.84 cups/day)

In 1616, the Dutch were the first Europeans to obtain live coffee trees, brought back from Mocha, Yemen by Pieter van der Broecke. The beans from these coffee bushes were then used to begin Dutch coffee cultivation, with the colonies of Java and Suriname eventually becoming major suppliers of coffee to Europe.

Nowadays coffee houses in Amsterdam are well known for serving coffee alongside another specialty item, marijuana, but don’t let that cloud your vision, coffee culture is still strong and rich in the Netherlands as the Dutch drink 1.84 cups per day on average.

2 – Norway: 7.2 kg per capita (consumption of 1.98 cups/day)

Like most European countries, coffee in Norway was first made popular among the wealthy in the early 18th century (brief history of coffee). Even though Norway was a relatively poor country, being ruled by Denmark at the time had its benefits; in this case, lots of cheap java.

Coffee is typically served at breakfast, and with dessert after dinner.Norwegians also commonly invites people over specifically for coffee, served with cakes and pastries. The average Norwegian drinks nearly 2 cups of coffee a day, which means the roughly 5 million people of the nation consumed a combined 36,472,000kg in 2012.

1 – Finland: 9.6 kg per capita (consumption of 2.64 cups/day)

If you’ve ever met a Finn you know that the national average of 2.64 cups per day is probably on the low end for most in Finland. If you were to take children out of the calculation, the national average would rise even higher!

Coffee is typically consumed all day, every day, and coffee breaks are required by most workers unions. Special occasions and post-church luncheons are celebrated with a coffee table – a buffet of cold sandwiches, breads, cookies and cakes, and of course endless “khavi”.

With a Starbucks on almost every corner, McDonalds converting to McCafe, and Dunkin Donuts as an integral part of many morning commutes, though, the USA is medium sized beverage in a sea of extra large coffee drinking nations, so when it comes to which country drinks the most coffee, never say the USA!

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