Tea calories in a lifetime

The nation's favourite drink. See the cups, calories and bags of sugar you have had over the years.

Your details

73,050 cups over 50 years

2,429,643 kcal

33 kcal a cup, 48,593 a year

Sugar added292 kg, 292 bags of 1 kg
Cups73,050

Tea with milk is about 7 kcal per 100 ml in CoFID; most of the energy in a sweet cuppa comes from the sugar (4 g a teaspoon). Cutting down one spoon at a time is easier than stopping, and your taste buds adjust in a few weeks.

The working

4 cups a day of 250 ml, semi-skimmed, 1 sugar, 50 years

Tea with semi-skimmed milk is 7 kcal per 100 ml (CoFID), so 17.5 kcal a cup, plus 15.8 kcal for a 4 g teaspoon of sugar: 33 kcal a cup. Over 50 years that is 73,050 cups, 2.4 million kcal and 292 kg of sugar.

Cups compared

A 250 ml cup

Cup	kcal
Black tea	0
With semi-skimmed milk	18
With whole milk	20
With semi-skimmed and 1 sugar	33
With semi-skimmed and 2 sugars	49

Cutting the sugar

Gently

Going from two sugars to one, then half, works better than stopping. Taste buds adjust within a few weeks, and many people then find sweet tea too sweet.

Read with care

What this cannot tell you

Know your mugBig mugs hold 350 ml or more.
Count biscuitsAdd those on the biscuit page.
Tell you to stopTea counts towards your fluid.

Questions

Common questions

How many calories in a cup of tea?

About 18 kcal with semi-skimmed milk, and 33 with one sugar.

Does tea count towards fluid?

Yes, tea counts towards your 6 to 8 glasses a day.

How much sugar is a teaspoon?

About 4 g.

Is black tea calorie free?

Almost: CoFID lists it as a trace.

Sources

Last checked 21 October 2026. Spotted something wrong? Tell us and we will fix it.

Food, weight and worry

If food, weight or exercise feel like a worry, talk to your GP. Beat offers free, confidential support on 0808 801 0677.