Distillers Cabo Verde
A one-page guide to Cabo Verde for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Praia
- Official languages
- Portuguese (official), Cape Verdean Creole (national language)
- Currency
- Cape Verdean escudo (CVE)
- Time zone
- UTC-1
- Area
- 4,030 km²
People
- Population
- 527,326 (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.5% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 77.6%
- Aged under 15
- 24.7%
- Aged 65 and over
- 7.2%
- Life expectancy
- 76.2 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$3.1 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$5,796 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 6.29698518253096% (2025)
- Inflation
- 2.34333897365162% (2025)
Climate
Semi-arid and milder than the African mainland because of sea moderation. Rain is scarce and irregular, mostly August to October; average temperatures run from about 22 C in February to 27 C in September.
Alcohol
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 4.2 litres of pure alcohol (2022)
- What people drink
- Beer 40%, wine 42%, spirits 18% (2022)
- Traditional drinks
- Grogue (sugarcane spirit), Ponche (grogue-based punch)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wikipedia: Cabo Verde (basics, climate, ports); Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; World Bank Open Data (population, GDP, growth, inflation, area); WHO Global Health Observatory: total alcohol per capita; UN Comtrade (HS 2208 trade); Minority Africa (Mar 2026): Cape Verde's push to modernise grogue; Rhum Attitude: Grogue; RTP/Lusa - Do trapiche ao copo, grogue season (19 Jan 2025). Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.