Introduction

The goal of this statistical chapter is to summarily present reliable time series on production, volume of net exports and net imports, as well as selected information on prices from the beginning of the eighteenth century to 1960. The information provided here is part of a larger data set, abbreviated for publication. We sought to provide a relevant selection for those interested in the history of coffee-producing regions of the world, of the international coffee commodity chain, and of consumption trends. General readers may find the abridged tables helpful in terms of clarity, while specialists will perhaps appreciate the detailed annual data. We hope that these tables and the broader database from which they are derived will be improved on in the future through our collective efforts, as we continue to explore sources and share information.

This endeavor has been a cooperative project at several levels. The initiative came out of the conference on “Coffee Production and Economic Development, ca. 1700–1960,” held at Oxford in 1998. The two coauthors subsequently undertook this task with the enthusiastic support of the editors, who generously contributed their own data and expertise. William G. Clarence-Smith supplied information on a number of African and Asian cases, and Steven Topik on Brazil; both offered relevant suggestions and valuable feedback. Several other researchers also provided data and source references for the historical cases with which they are familiar.