It’s no secret that Australia is obsessed with coffee. And, it turns out the rest of the world is quite fond of our coffee also.
But what types of coffee do Australians actually drink? And which parts of the country are most coffee-obsessed?
To help shed some light on the coffee trends in Australia, we’ve analysed 5 years of search volume data from Google and other sources.
Coffee Search Volume by State
The first thing we looked at was search volume for ‘coffee’ by state.
Here’s what we found:
Based on Google Trends search volume data for the past 5 years, Queensland has had the highest search volume for ‘coffee’.
Here’s the full list of states:
| State | Coffee search volume |
| Queensland | 100 |
| Western Australia | 97 |
| South Australia | 94 |
| Victoria | 94 |
| New South Wales | 92 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 91 |
| Tasmania | 87 |
| Northern Territory | 78 |
It’s worth noting that the top 6 states are all in the 90s, indicating that the search volume for Queensland isn’t significantly higher than that in the following 5 states.
Northern Territory, however, is quite far behind with a search volume of 78. Based on search volume, coffee is significantly less popular here than in neighbouring Queensland.
A Note on Search Volume
Google trend values relate to a specific time period (in this case the 5 years up to Dec 2021) and are calculated on a scale from 0 to 100.
A score of 100 represents the location with the most popularity as a fraction of total searches in that location. A score of 50 indicates a location where the search term is half as popular.
Because a higher value means a higher fraction of all queries in that area, not a higher absolute query count, the population of a state or city will not impact the score.
A state with a low population where 50% of all queries are for ‘coffee’ will get twice the score of a larger state where only 25% of queries are for ‘coffee’.
Breaking the Australia search volume data down further, we can see that the Sunshine Coast region tops the chart for ‘coffee’ search volume across Australia.
| Town/City/Region | Coffee search volume |
| Sunshine Coast | 100 |
| Brisbane | 95 |
| Gold Coast | 94 |
| Perth | 89 |
| Townsville | 89 |
| Geelong | 89 |
| Cairns | 88 |
| Toowoomba | 87 |
| Adelaide | 87 |
| Sydney | 86 |
| Melbourne | 85 |
| Canberra | 83 |
| Newcastle | 83 |
| Hobart | 81 |
| Wollongong | 78 |
| Central Coast | 75 |
| Darwin | 72 |
With 4 of the top 5 locations being in Queensland, it’s clear why the Sunshine State claimed the number 1 spot.
Search Volume Over Time
Search volumes for coffee (as a fraction of total search volume) has been slowly increasing over the past 5 years, however, it has dropped off since October 2021.
The peak in this period (a score of 100) occurred in the period 27 December 2020 – 2 January 2021.
The lowest point was 12 – 18 February 2017.
Search Volume by Coffee Type
The below chart displays the monthly search volume in Australia for different types of coffee.
A Piccolo is a single shot of espresso (traditionally a double ristretto), topped up to the brim of its 100ml demitasse glass with latte-like steamed milk.
While we can’t tell from the data, it’s probably fair to assume that search volume doesn’t translate directly to popularity in terms of consumption.
If we look at the related search terms for Piccolo and Mocha (first equal with 17k monthly searches), we can see that people are mostly trying to learn more about these types of coffee, rather than find somewhere they can buy one.
A report compiled by Square in 2019 (based on data from cafes using their payment solutions) found the most consumed coffees in Australia to be lattes, flat whites, and cappucinos.
It’s unlikely that a regular latte drinker searches for ‘latte’ very often.
But on a hot day, they may search for ‘Iced coffee’, hoping to find recipes or a local cafe that serves this type of drink.
Coffee type by City: Where are Flat Whites most popular?
The Flat White is Australia’s most famous coffee export and can now be found in specialty coffee shops around the world.
But where is it most popular at home?
Based on search volume, Flat Whites are most popular in Sydney, followed by Brisbane and Perth.
Cappuccino
The Cappuccino came 3rd on our list of the most searched for coffees in Australia.
In terms of popularity by city, Sydney leads the way, followed closely by Adelaide and Perth.
Latte
Melbourne easily takes the top spot for this one, coming in 12 points ahead of Adelaide.
Interestingly, Geelong also appears on this list, confirming the popularity of lattes in the state of Victoria.
The 2019 Square report had similar results, with Victoria and Adelaide favouring Lattes and New South Wales Cappuccinos.
What’s up with Iced Coffee in Adelaide?
In perhaps the most interesting result, Iced Coffee is by far the most popular in Adelaide.
It’s well in front of all the warmer locations, with Newcastle a distant second with a score of 68.
Intrigued by this result, we decided to do some digging.
Google gave us a big hint:
According to Wikipedia, “Farmers Union Iced Coffee is a flavoured milk drink popular in Australia, primarily the state of South Australia”.
Cold Brew
This looks a lot more like what we would expect for a cold coffee drink, with the warmer cities dominating the table.
Magic Coffee, anyone?
A magic coffee consists of a double ristretto and micro-foam milk, served in a 160ml cup. It’s like a flat white but smaller, and stronger.
But if you live outside of Melbourne, you’re unlikely to have ever heard of a Magic.
In fact, Melbourne and Sydney are the only cities registering any search volume for ‘Magic Coffee’.
Here’s the result by state:
| Region | Magic Coffee |
| Victoria | 100 |
| Western Australia | 46 |
| New South Wales | 45 |
| Queensland | 40 |
| Northern Territory | 0 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 0 |
| South Australia | 0 |
| Tasmania | 0 |
That’s a Wrap
If you enjoyed these coffee trends and stats, or would like to see us analyse another part of the coffee world, please feel free to get in touch and let us know.
And if you found this content interesting, please share it with a friend!
Fair Use
If citing this research, please provide attribution by linking to this page.
