Regular consumption of beverages in the United Kingdom 2024, by type and generation

The most regularly consumed beverage product in the UK is coffee, according to Statista's Consumer Insights. This trend is evident across all generations. Between July 2023 and June 2024, 74 percent of baby boomers stated they drank coffee regularly, followed by 71 percent of Generation X, 58 percent of millennials and 47 percent of Generation Z.

Beverage consumption in the UK

Almost eight billion liters of soft drinks are consumed in the UK annually. In recent years, there has been an increase in soft drink consumption in the UK. The annual expenditure on beer in the UK amounts to roughly six billion British pounds. Beer expenditure was particularly high during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 but has since declined to approximately pre-pandemic levels. The annual expenditure on coffee, tea, and cocoa in the UK, based on volume, amounts to approximately 2.8 billion British pounds.

Coffee consumption in the UK

Approximately 65 percent of consumers in the UK drink coffee two to three times a week or more, compared to about 23 percent of Brits who do not drink coffee. The leading coffee brand in the UK, in terms of retail sales revenue, is Nescafé, which generates more than 39 million British pounds. This is more than three times the amount generated by its leading competitor, Kenco. Nescafé is owned by the multinational food and drink processing corporation Nestlé. There are 7,736 businesses in the café and coffee shop sector in the UK.