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What are the statistics across the different age groups of the amount of coffee purchased every week, month and year globally?
Hello! Thanks for your question about the global age demographics of coffee purchased weekly, monthly, and yearly.
The short version is that after searching extensively through coffee industry reports, third party market analysis, statistics sites, and trusted media sources, I’ve determined that the information you requested is not publicly available because coffee drinking globally varies drastically from very high consumption (like Finland or the US) to very low consumption (such as Russia) and therefore, the information has not been gathered by any prior market research due to the large amount of variation and variables involved.
However, I was able to learn many relevant facts related to your question, including: the amount the average American worker spends weekly on coffee ($20.74) and different percentages of Americans that drink coffee, by age group, among other statistics. For what I believe to be some of the most relevant information, please see the Statista report "U.S. demographics of coffee drinkers 2016" and the Consumerist article "Average American Workers Spends Nearly $1,100/year on Coffee." Below you will find a deep dive of my research and methodology.
METHODOLOGY
After searching exhaustively, I have not been able to find any statistic that proves the global age demographic of coffee spending on a weekly, monthly, and yearly level.
First, I began by consulting coffee industry associations and organizations. Both the National Coffee Association (NCA) and the International Coffee Organization (ICO), though they have many interesting and potentially useful statistics (which I've detailed below), did not provide any information regarding age demographics in the US or globally.
Next, I searched through third party market analytics sites and research articles for relevant information. Though I found a 2013 research study by the Pew Research Foundation that details popularity of coffee worldwide by country, I again did not find any directly useful information for answering our question of global age demographics for coffee purchasing.
I also researched the psychographics of coffee drinkers, in an attempt to find information about how old coffee drinkers of different kinds were, and where they might spend their money and how much. Finally, I also searched through statistic compilation websites, news outlets, coffee blogs and industry forum sites for important information related to the query. However, I still was not able to locate any information regarding age demographics globally and coffee purchasing, or information that could be used to successfully create a good back-of-the-envelope calculation.
As well, many of these reports are older than two years, making them less relevant to today's market. When I do cite an older report, I provide the year it was published below. Regardless, I was able to find many interesting and potentially useful statistics and facts related to your query. I have detailed them below.
HELPFUL FINDINGS: COFFEE DRINKER STATISTICS
While I could not find a direct answer to your question, I was able to gather some information about this topic, which I think will be helpful for your project. Most of the information publicly available about coffee drinkers' demographics are focused on the US. This is because the US is the biggest buyer of coffee worldwide.
The average American worker spends about $20 per week on coffee. Younger workers (ages 18-34) pay $24.74 on average per week for coffee, whereas older workers (ages 45 and older) spend $14.15 per week. This translates into an average of $1,100 per year spent on coffee. One survey conducted in 2017 found that 41% of all millennials (ages 18-35) spent more money on coffee than on saving for retirement.
Interestingly, although the United States is spending more than ever on coffee, coffee consumption itself is down. Statist a reports that the average per capita coffee consumption of US drinkers is 1.64 cups per day, down from 1.85 cups in 2015 and 2.01 cups a day for 2014. As well, a Reuters article from 2015 notes that the biannual coffee report conducted by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) predicted that for 2016, the United States would purchase 23.7 million 60-kg bags (or 132.27 pounds) down from 24 million bags in 2015. This trend is due largely to the increased popularity of single serve coffee makers, such as K-CUP (Keurig), which in 2015, was in a quarter of American households, a 10% increase from the year before. This means that instead of brewing a whole pot of coffee, more Americans are now brewing a single cup-- translating into less coffee overall used in the US.
Worldwide, the International Coffee Organization (ICO) reported estimates of coffee consumption in the year 2014 at about 149.3 million bags globally. As of the 2015/2016 coffee year (October to September), that number had gone up to 151.3 million 60 kg bags worldwide.
Approximately 50% of the American population over the age of 18, or 150 million people, drink coffee every day. According to the Roast and Post: "The USA is the world's [overall] largest consumer [buyer] of coffee, importing 16 to 20 million bags annually (2.5 million pounds), representing 1/3 of all coffee exported." However, although the USA is the biggest buyer of coffee, it is not the biggest drinker of actual coffee (coffee per liters) in the world. In fact, in 2015, the Netherlands was the world's top coffee consumer, with an average per capita consumption of 260.4 liters a year. Neither is the United States the largest per capita buyer of coffee by dry volume (i.e. not brewed). According to statistics gathered in 2013, Finland is the largest dry volume per capita consumer, with 9.6 kg per capita. The Netherlands follows third with 6.7 kg per capita.
In the United States in 2016, there are differences in how much each age demographic drinks coffee: 48% of 18-24 year, 60% of 25 to 39-year-olds, 53% of 40 to 59-year-olds, and 64% of people 60 years or older drank coffee. However, they get this coffee in different ways. Although 86% of people who drink coffee drink coffee at home, millennials ages 25-34 are the least likely of any age demographic to stock coffee in their house.
POSSIBLE CONTINUED RESEARCH
In understanding what types of information are and are not publicly available on this topic, I’ve suggested a few other routes you may be interested in researching:
- What are the age demographics of people in the US who buy gourmet coffee in cafes?
- What are the age demographics of people who have at-home specialty coffee makers (such as K-Cup, an espresso machine, etc.)?
- Which age group drinks the most coffee in the US, and what are their coffee drinking habits?
CONCLUSION
To wrap it up, after searching extensively through coffee industry reports, third party market analysis, statistics sites, and trusted media sources, a direct answer to your question is not publicly available because the amount of coffee consumed varies dramatically worldwide, and by type, and therefore no research or statistics have been gathered, especially for countries where little coffee is had. However I learned that out of every age demographic in the US, people 60 years are older are more likely to drink coffee than any other age group. However, US millennials spend more on coffee per week than their older peers. I also learned that the U.S. is the largest purchaser of coffee worldwide, but other countries, such as Finland and the Netherlands, consumer far more coffee per capita.
If you’d like to continue research on any of the other topics I’ve outlined above, just let us know!
Thanks for using Wonder!