The article presents the results of research on the world coffee market and the role of South American countries in it. For Brazil, Colombia and Peru as the main producers of green coffee on the continent and one of the world leaders in crops of this plant, the history of the emergence of coffee, the peculiarities of its cultivation, the impact on the labor market are considered, the main varieties are named. For a quantitative analysis of international coffee trade, statistical data of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the production, export and import of green and roasted coffee in natural terms by countries for the period from 1963 to 2019 is used. The analysis of changes in the volumes and structure of these indicators is carried out, the leading countries are singled out for each of them, the main trends are noted, and the place of the countries of South America is determined. The dynamics are assessed separately for export and import flows of green and roasted coffee, and geographical shifts are analyzed for the period both in the context of the world's macroregions and individual countries.