Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo once ranked coffee second only to copper among its exports, but conflict from the 1990s collapsed production. Specialty arabica is now re-emerging around Lake Kivu in North and South Kivu, where Bourbon grows on volcanic soils and washing-station cooperatives export overland through Rwanda or Uganda.

ArabicaRobusta / Conilon Harvesting in November

Production 2026/27
160kbags9,600 t · USDA PSD
Exports 2026/27
60kbags38% of the harvest
Arabica share
31%
World rank
29of 400.1% of origin output
Area harvested 2024
167khaFAOSTAT
Altitude
not published

Production and exports

60 kg bags · USDA PSD market years
0100k200k300k201020122014201620182020202220242026Production160kExports60kDomestic use100k
0100k200k300k’10’20Production160kExports60kDomestic use100k

Market years 2010/11 to 2026/27; the last year is USDA's current estimate. Domestic use is PSD's domestic consumption line.

Area harvested, hectares · FAOSTAT

60k80k100k120k140k160k180k’10’15’20Area167k

FAOSTAT crops and livestock products, item green coffee (CC BY 4.0). Values flagged as estimates by FAO are included as published.

Where the coffee goes

Supply and use
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Production, Supply and Distribution (PSD), market years. Supply on the left equals use on the right.
Stocks carried in0
Production160k
Imports0
Exports60k
Domestic use100k
Stocks carried out0
Share of the harvest exported38%
Rank among producing origins by exports30 of 37

Where the exports go is not published here. Shipments by destination, including US imports from Democratic Republic of the Congo, come from USITC DataWeb and the Census trade API, which need credentials we do not hold yet.

Harvest

Harvest calendar for every origin
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec

Main cropFly cropTypical US arrival

Single source fly crop

  • Whole country · main cropApr–Jul · US Oct–Jan

    Cafe Imports March-July main, Mercanta April to mid-August; arrivals October-December (Cafe Imports) or November-January (Mercanta).

  • Whole country · fly cropSep–Jan
    Single source

    Fly crop per Cafe Imports only.

Growing regions

3 regions

Varieties, processing and grading

Main varieties

Bourbon

Common processing

Washed (wet, fully washed)

Export grading

Other national grade vocabularies (Jamaica, PNG, DR Congo, Ecuador, Yemen, Flores)

ICO certifying agent: Office National du Café (ONC)

Character and protected names

Flavour tendencies

The sources used do not describe a typical cup for Democratic Republic of the Congo; this page does not invent one.

General tendencies from importer origin notes, not a promise about any lot. The claims behind them are listed with their sources at the foot of the page.

Geographical indications and protected names

None recorded for Democratic Republic of the Congo.