Colombia produced 1.114 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee in October 2026, 8% less than the 1.208 million it produced in October 2025, according to National Federation of Coffee Growers (FNC) figures reported by Agronegocios and Portafolio on 6 November. Over the 12 months from November 2025 through October 2026, production came to 12.56 million bags, down 15% from 14.74 million a year earlier, Agronegocios reported. Portafolio places the October figure in the 2026-27 coffee year.
"El ciclo de menor producción cafetera persiste," Germán Bahamón, the FNC's general manager, said as he presented the balance, according to Portafolio. In English, our translation: the cycle of lower coffee production persists. The figures came out during the 90th Cumbre Cafetera in Cartagena, held 5 and 6 November, where the agriculture ministry set out credit and insurance measures for growers and Bahamón spoke against a proposal to charge 19% value-added tax on coffee, Infobae and El Colombiano reported.
How much coffee did Colombia export in October?
Exports moved the other way from production in October. Colombia exported 1.119 million bags in October 2026, up 6% on October 2025, and 11.85 million bags over the 12 months to October, down 11%, according to the FNC figures reported by Agronegocios. The federation's own exports over those 12 months were 2.55 million bags, Agronegocios reported, a 21.5% share of the total against 20.5% a year earlier.
The country also imported 1.60 million bags over the 12 months to October 2026 and consumed 2.32 million at home, according to the same report. In the calendar year to date, which both outlets call the "año corrido," production reached 10.059 million bags against 11.178 million in the same months of 2025, a fall of 10%, Agronegocios reported.
Portafolio printed the same figures rounded to two decimal places, including 12.55 million bags for the 12-month total and 1.11 million for both October production and October exports.
How big is the 12-month fall?
By our arithmetic on the figures Agronegocios reported, the 12-month total is about 2.18 million bags below the 12 months to October 2025. That gap is close to two full months of production at October's rate of 1.114 million bags. Our arithmetic also shows that, in weight, 2.18 million 60-kilogram bags come to roughly 131,000 metric tons.
- October 2026 production: 1.114 million bags, down 8%, according to FNC figures reported by Agronegocios on 6 November 2026.
- Production, November 2025 to October 2026: 12.56 million bags, down 15%, according to FNC figures reported by Agronegocios on 6 November 2026.
- October 2026 exports: 1.119 million bags, up 6%, according to FNC figures reported by Agronegocios on 6 November 2026.
- Exports, 12 months to October 2026: 11.85 million bags, down 11%, according to FNC figures reported by Agronegocios on 6 November 2026.
- Colombian Milds indicator, September 2026 average: 356.15 US cents per pound, down 8.1%, according to the ICO's September 2026 Coffee Market Report.
How does this compare with the coffee-year close?
When the 2025-26 coffee year closed at the end of September, the FNC put production for October 2025 through September 2026 at 12.65 million bags, down 15% from 14.87 million, as reported in our coverage of the coffee-year close. The new 12-month window drops October 2025 and adds October 2026, and the total slipped to 12.56 million bags as the federation reported it on 6 November.
Exporters have reported a similar direction on their own count. Asoexport, the exporters' association, reported January to September 2026 exports of 8.45 million bags, down 13.8%, in figures published on 19 October and covered in our report on the strong peso.
What does the ICO's latest report show for Colombia?
The International Coffee Organization's Coffee Market Report for September 2026, still the newest one listed on its site on 7 November, said Colombia's green bean exports fell 5.6% in August 2026 to 1.03 million bags from 1.09 million in August 2025. The report named Colombia as the main driver of the Colombian Milds group's decline that month, which it said was the group's 10th month of negative growth in the coffee year and the only group decline in August.
The same report said the Colombian Milds indicator price averaged 356.15 US cents per pound in September 2026, down 8.1% from August. Our story on the September report covers its wider figures.
What did the government announce for coffee growers?
Agriculture Minister Indalecio Dangond Baquero presented the measures at the Cumbre, according to El Tiempo (María Alejandra Moreno Flórez) and La República (Sofía Gómez Villegas), both on 6 November. Both outlets reported a credit line for small and medium growers channeled through coffee buyers, with low rates set by the state and buyers' advances backed by the Fondo Agropecuario de Garantías, the agricultural loan guarantee fund. They also reported a line to reschedule coffee debts ahead of El Niño by freezing principal payments and extending terms.
The package includes a subsidy of up to 60% of climate-risk insurance premiums, which both outlets said is to be decided by the national agricultural credit commission on 30 November, and a rural capitalization incentive of up to 30% of the cost of renovating coffee plantings. Public bodies are to buy Colombian rather than imported coffee, El Tiempo reported. El Tiempo named Gustavo Gómez Montero, president of Asoexport, and Santiago Pardo Salguero, president of the trade association Analdex, at the opening; Infobae reported that the two associations organized the event.
Why is the coffee sector objecting to the tax proposal?
Bahamón told the Cumbre that coffee should not carry a 19% value-added tax, according to Infobae (Carol Salazar) and El Colombiano (Miguel Orlando Alguero), both on 6 November. Infobae reported that he named parchment, green and roasted coffee, along with irrigation systems and tractors, as items the rate should not reach. The proposal sits in the tax reform of President Abelardo de la Espriella's government, bill 477 of 2026, which Infobae identified as the Ley de Rescate Económico.
El Colombiano reported that the 19% rate would apply to products that currently receive differential treatment. Neither outlet stated the rate coffee pays now. El Tiempo reported that the president, the finance minister and Dangond plan a joint announcement on coffee in Santa Marta on Saturday 14 November.
Photograph: Diego Castañeda, Unsplash. Taken in Risaralda, Colombia, and not connected to the events reported here.
