Colombia’s 2023/24 coffee harvest is expected to be 11.6 million bags

Coffee production in Colombia, the world’s second largest Arabica producer behind Brazil, is expected to reach 11.6 million 60-kg bags in the 2023/24 harvest, which corresponds to an increase of around 300,000 bags compared to the estimate for the previous 2022/23 harvest of 11.3 million bags, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) office in Bogotá.

Colombia´s coffee

According to the USDA, “improved weather conditions for growing coffee are likely to slightly increase production”. The USDA cites a recent report by the Colombian Institute of Meteorology (Ideam), which states that the La Niña weather phenomenon ended at the beginning of 2023. “Neutral conditions are expected to continue until the El Niño weather phenomenon develops with a probability of 62% in the second half of 2023,” commented the department.

With regard to the 2022/23 harvest, the production estimate was revised to 11.3 million bags, 10.3% lower than the USDA’s official estimate of 12.6 million bags. “Excessive rains caused by La Niña lasted longer than expected. This, combined with lower levels of fertilization due to the high prices of this input, hampered productivity in the 2022/23 crop,” explained the USDA.