Geographical distribution:
Coffee is indigenous to Africa, with arabica coffee reportedly originating from
Ethiopia and robusta from the Atlantic Coast (Kouilou region and in and around
Angola) and the Great Lakes region. Today it is widely grown throughout the
tropics. The bulk of the world’s coffee, however, is produced in Latin America
and in particular in Brazil, which has dominated world production since 1840.
Brazil is the world’s largest grower and seller of coffee. Viet Nam, which
expanded its production rapidly throughout the 1990s, now holds the number two
position, bringing Colombia into third place and Indonesia into fourth.
The figures below demonstrate the shifts in regional shares of arabica and
robusta production between the five-year average over the period 1981/82 - 1985/86 and the period 2005/06 - 2009/10.
(Source: ICO)
