Brasilia, Sep 12 (IANS): Brazil, the world's largest producer and exporter of coffee, exported 23.4 million sacks of the bean over the first eight months this year, down 1.2 percent from the same period in 2014.

Revenue from coffee exports, however, rose one percent to $4.08 billion, Efe quoted the Council of Coffee Exporters (CeCafe) as saying.

Exports in August totalled 2.83 million 60-kilogram (132-pound) sacks, an 8.4 percent decrease from the same month last year, while revenues fell 22.2 percent to $451.6 million.

Last month's decline was expected and "is in line with the forecast of 25 million sacks exported in 2015", CeCafe Director-General Guilherme Braga said.

Higher quality Arabica beans accounted for 76.7 percent of the coffee exported in the January-August period.

Europe was the main destination for Brazilian coffee exports with 52 percent of sales followed by North America with 26 percent and Asia 16 percent.

The US was the top importer of Brazilian coffee taking 22 percent of the total followed by Germany 19 percent, Italy eight percent and Japan seven percent.