All Fermi answers
Fermi #13 · Question 1

How many cups of tea are drunk in the UK each day?

Explore the official answer and the simple reasoning behind this Fermi estimate.

1QUESTION 1 OF 3

Answer & explanation

The official answer, with Fermi’s reasoning step by step.

Answer & explanation

Official answer

100,000,000

cups

How to estimate it

Fermi’s official “Napkin math”

The easiest place to start is the UK population, about 67 million. Brits are famous tea drinkers. How many cups does the average person have a day? Call it 1.5 across everyone.

UK population
67,000,000
Cups per person per day
~1.5
67M × 1.5
≈ 100,000,000

Rounded assumptions may give a slightly different estimate. The official answer above is the game’s reference value.

Source calculation & reference
UK population
~67 million
Tea drinkers (~84% of adults)
~46 million
Cups per drinker per day
~2
UK Tea & Infusions Association
≈ 100 million

Reference cited by Fermi: UK Tea & Infusions Association

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