Bogotá — Colombian coffee production and exports declined in 2022, with the country producing fewer bags of the bean than in 2021, but, in addition, exports also dropped.
Recorded annual coffee production in Colombia, still the world’s largest producer of washed mild arabica, closed 2022 at nearly 11.1 million 60-kg bags, 12% less than the nearly 12.6 million bags produced in 2021.
This figure is the result of excess rainfall due to a prolonged La Niña phenomenon over the last two and a half years.
In December, production fell 29% to 981,000 bags compared to the nearly 1.4 million bags produced in the same month of 2021.
Between October and December 2022, production totaled 2.9 million bags, down 17% compared to the more than 3.5 million bags harvested in the same period of the previous year, while full-year coffee exports fell 8% to just over 11.4 million 60 kg bags of green coffee compared to over 12.4 million bags placed on international markets throughout 2021.
In December, exports fell 12% to just over one million bags versus almost 1.2 million bags exported in the same month of 2021.
Likewise, so far this coffee year, exports have totaled 2.8 million 60 kg bags, 14% less than the almost 3.3 million bags exported in the same period of the previous year.