Agriculture

Visualizing a Rapidly Changing Global Diet

Published

6 years ago

November 15, 2017

Jeff Desjardins

Visualizing a Rapidly Changing Global Diet

By 2050, there will be two billion more mouths to feed than today.

The increase in food supply required to feed this many people is difficult to fathom, but even that would just be scratching the surface of our future food needs.

Today’s infographic, which comes from Raconteur, makes it clear that the challenge of feeding the global population is actually magnitudes greater. The global diet is changing rapidly in both size and composition, especially in developing countries in Africa and Asia.

The Global Diet

Right now, the average person consumes close to 3,000 calories per day – with the lion’s share coming from grains such as wheat, corn, or rice.

Food	Avg. Daily Calories per Person (Global, 2011)	% of Diet
Grain	1,296	45.2%
Sugar & Fat	570	19.9%
Produce	327	11.4%
Meat	272	9.5%
Dairy & Eggs	235	8.2%
Other	170	5.9%
Total Diet	2,870	100%

However, the amount of food consumed by each person is growing around the world.

Between 2015 and 2030, it’s estimated that on a global basis, each person will be consuming an extra 110 calories per day.

Meat as a Staple

Increasing wealth and rising populations are key drivers for meat consumption in developing countries.

In China, which is already the world’s largest pork market, consumption of beef is expected to nearly double in the period between 2000 and 2026. In Sub-Saharan Africa, numbers are similar.

While beef is already extremely popular in many high-income economies, it is not the most sustainable food to produce. Beef needs more water and land per pound than almost any other protein source – but that’s not stopping people around the world in developing economies from eating it in greater amounts.

Meanwhile, in India, about one-third of the population is vegetarian – yet the country is turning into a major driver of new meat demand.

Since 2009, India’s annual disposable income has improved by 95 percent and meat consumption has increased by nearly 50 percent during the same time period.

– Anastasia Alieva, Head of Fresh Food Research at Euromonitor International

Outside the Box

To meet new demand for food, scientists are starting to think outside the box.

For an in-depth look at new technology envisioned for food production – including automated vertical farms, aquaponics, in vitro meats, and artificial animal products – make sure to visit the following infographic on the future of food.

Related Topics:agriculture population food diet

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Agriculture

Visualizing the Global Coffee Trade by Country

Which countries export, and import, the most coffee? This visual highlights the global coffee trade by export flows in 2019.

Creator Program

Published

7 days ago

November 24, 2023

Omri Wallach

charting the global coffee trade by export flows in 2019.

Visualizing the Global Coffee Trade by Country

From drip coffees to decadent lattes, every cup of coffee begins its journey from the humble coffee bean. A massive global coffee trade moves these beans from farms in one country to cafes in another.

In this piece, Airi Ryu uses data from Chatham House’s resourcetrade.earth to track the global trade of unroasted and non-decaffeinated coffee beans in 2019, highlighting the world’s top coffee exporters and importers.

The Biggest Exporters in the Global Coffee Trade

Close to 84% of the world’s coffee bean exports come from just 10 countries.

All these countries are found in the “Bean Belt” between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn where coffee grows best. These top coffee-producing nations include Brazil, Vietnam, and Colombia.

Here are the top coffee exporting nations in 2019:

Rank	Country	Coffee Exports (Tonnes)	Share of Total
1	🇧🇷 Brazil	2.20M	28.9%
2	🇻🇳 Vietnam	1.44M	18.9%
3	🇨🇴 Colombia	0.77M	10.1%
4	🇭🇳 Honduras	0.44M	5.8%
5	🇮🇩 Indonesia	0.34M	4.5%
6	🇺🇬 Uganda	0.26M	3.4%
7	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	0.25M	3.3%
8	🇵🇪 Peru	0.23M	3.0%
9	🇮🇳 India	0.23M	3.0%
10	🇬🇹 Guatemala	0.22M	2.9%
n/a	🌍 Others	0.83M	11.0%
n/a	🌍 Others (re-export)	0.40M	5.2%

The South American nations of Brazil, Colombia, and Peru export nearly 42% of the global coffee beans. Brazil exported over 2.2 million tonnes in 2019 alone, more than a quarter of the global coffee trade.

Across the Pacific, Vietnam and Indonesia together exported 23.4% of the world’s coffee beans in 2019. Other major exporters include the Central American nations of Honduras and Guatemala, which combined for 8.7% of global coffee bean exports, and the African nations Uganda and Ethiopia with 6.7% combined.

Biggest Coffee Bean Importers, By Country

On the other side of the global coffee trade are nations with high demand for coffee dominating import shares. Many of these importing nations also re-export coffee beans to other parts of the world under their own local brands.

Here are the top coffee importing nations in 2019:

Rank	Country	Coffee Imports (Tonnes)	Share of Total
1	🇺🇸 U.S.	1.47M	19.3%
2	🇩🇪 Germany	1.08M	14.2%
3	🇮🇹 Italy	0.63M	8.3%
4	🇯🇵 Japan	0.43M	5.7%
5	🇧🇪 Belgium	0.31M	4.1%
6	🇪🇸 Spain	0.29M	3.5%
7	🇫🇷 France	0.21M	2.7%
8	🇨🇦 Canada	0.20M	2.6%
9	🇬🇧 United Kingdom	0.18M	2.4%
10	🇷🇺 Russian Federation	0.18M	2.4%
n/a	🌍 Others	2.36M	34.7%

The U.S. is the largest importer of coffee beans in the world, bringing in 1.5 million tonnes of unroasted coffee beans in 2019, equivalent to 19.3% of all exports that year. While Brazil and Colombia are its biggest sources of coffee, beans imported from Asia and Central America also thrive thanks to a strong specialty coffee culture.

Europe is also a massive destination for coffee bean exports. Germany led the way with 14.2% of global coffee imports, while Italy accounted for 8.3%.

A brewing coffee culture in Japan has made the country a major player in the global coffee trade. In 2019, Japan was the fourth-largest coffee bean importer in the world and far and away the leading importer in Asia.

As the desire for coffee continues to permeate throughout the world, and as climate change puts a strain on coffee production (and vice versa), the flows of coffee beans are sure to change in the coming decades.