Coffee-growing countries becoming too hot to cultivate beans, analysis finds

"An analysis has suggested the countries where coffee beans are grown are becoming too hot to cultivate them because of climate breakdown. The top five coffee-growing countries, responsible for 75% of the world's supply, experienced on average 57 additional days of coffee-harming heat annually because of the climate crisis, according to the findings of Climate Central, which researches and reports on the crisis."

"Coffee beans are primarily sourced from an area known as the bean belt between the tropic of cancer and the tropic of capricorn, and need specific temperature and rainfall conditions to flourish. The plants, especially the most-prized arabica variety, struggle in temperatures above 30C. About 2bn cups of coffee are consumed every day, according to the industry. But that industry is under strain."

"Climate Central's analysis counted the number of days above 30C in coffee-growing regions between 2021 and 2025, then compared them with the number that would have occurred in a world without carbon pollution. The worst-affected coffee producing country was El Salvador, which they calculated had 99 additional days with coffee-harming heat. Brazil, the world's most important coffee producer, accounting for 37% of global production, had 70 additional days above 30C. Ethiopia, which accounts for 6.4% of coffee production, had 34."

Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee and more than 4 million households rely on coffee as their primary income, with coffee contributing almost a third of national export earnings. Coffee-growing regions require specific temperature and rainfall conditions; arabica plants struggle above 30C. Climate Central found the top five coffee-producing countries experienced an average of 57 additional coffee-harming heat days annually due to the climate crisis. The analysis counted days above 30C between 2021–2025 versus a world without carbon pollution. El Salvador had 99 additional days, Brazil 70, and Ethiopia 34. Coffee prices almost doubled from 2023 to 2025, reaching an all-time high in February 2025.

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