via Holland in the 1650s and during the eighteenth century English tea
consumption increased by a factor of 400. Coffee reached Europe via Venice in
1615, and by the mid-seventeenth century coffee houses were popular across
Europe. In 1500 sugar was available from a variety of sources (sugarcane,
sugar beets, sorghum, honey etc.) but only in small quantities at prohibitive
prices. By the 1790s roughly 10 per cent of the household budget was spent on
tea, coffee, sugar and treacle by poor, working-class households, even during
recessions, illustrating the high value assigned to these new commodities. For
the poor a cup of sugary tea could reduce feelings of hunger, give a short
energy boost and serve as a substitute for a hot meal. By the end of the eigh-
teenth century previously luxury goods had been transformed into those for
mass consumption. In 1800 the European continent as a whole imported 120
million pounds of coffee, 125 million pounds of tobacco, 40 million pounds of
tea, and 13 million pounds of chocolate. Volume effects were reinforced by
price falls. One series shows the real price of sugar falling from 32 pence per
pound in 1600,to less than 15 pence by the 1650s and 5.7 pence in 1850,and
the price of tea falling from 614 pence per pound in 1690 to 54 pence in 1850.
The Great Divergence since 1750 155Table 7.1 Per capita GDP levels, 1500 and 18201500 1820 Growth rateDynamic countries and regions 1990 US$
Belgium 875 1,319 0.13
France 727 1,135 0.14
Germany 688 1,077 0.14
Italy 1,100 1,117 0.00
Netherlands 761 1,838 0.28
Portugal 606 923 0.13
Spain 661 1,008 0.13
Ireland 526 877 0.16
United Kingdom 714 1,706 0.32
All Western Europe 798 1,245 0.14
Brazil 646
Mexico 759
US 400 1,257 0.35
Less dynamic countries and regions
China 600 600 0.00
India 550 533 –0.01
Japan 500 669 0.09
Russia 499 688 0.10
Eastern Europe 496 683 0.10
Egypt 680 475 0.00Sources:Data compiled from Maddison (2006:436–7, 444, 465, 473, 520, 558); Bolt and van
Zanden (2013).