Year over year, the value of worldwide tea exports shrank by an average -8.8% compared to $8.63 billion in 2021.
The 5 biggest exporters of tea are mainland China, Kenya, Sri Lanka, India and Poland. Collectively, that quintet of major tea exporters approached three-quarters (72.5%) of international tea sales.
From a continental perspective, Asian countries sold the highest dollar worth of exported tea during 2022 with shipments valued at $4.9 billion or 62.1% of the global total. In second place were exporters in Africa at 22.5% while another 12.4% of overall tea shipments originated from Europe.
Tinier percentages of globally exported tea came from suppliers in North America (1.7%), Latin America (1.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.1%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
For research purposes, the 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix for tea is 0902.
Tea Exports by Country
Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of tea during 2022.
- China: US$2.1 billion (26.5% of total tea exports)
- Kenya: $1.4 billion (17.6%)
- Sri Lanka: $1.2 billion (15.7%)
- India: $751.1 million (9.5%)
- Poland: $252.7 million (3.2%)
- Germany: $228.7 million (2.9%)
- Japan: $170.4 million (2.2%)
- United Kingdom: $123 million (1.6%)
- Rwanda: $109.4 million (1.4%)
- Vietnam: $99.7 million (1.3%)
- Taiwan: $99 million (1.3%)
- United States: $97.7 million (1.2%)
- Indonesia: $90 million (1.1%)
- United Arab Emirates: $80.6 million (1%)
- Malawi: $79.8 million (1%)
By value, the listed 15 countries shipped 87.4% of worldwide tea exports in 2022.
Among the top exporters, the fastest-growing tea exporters from 2021 to 2022 were: Kenya (up 16.2%), India (up 9.2%), Malawi (up 8.8%) and Rwanda (up 5%).
Posting double-digit declines in their exported tea sales were: United Arab Emirates (down -76.2%), Vietnam (down -51.2%), Taiwan (down -12.6%), Sri Lanka (down -11.3%) and Japan (down -10.3%).
For a more detailed listing for 100 top tea exporters, see the section Searchable List of Tea Exporting Countries below.
Countries Generating Greatest Surpluses Trading Tea
The following countries posted the highest positive net exports for tea during 2022. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the surplus between the value of each country’s exported tea and its import purchases for that same commodity.
- China: US$1.9 billion (net export surplus down -8.4% since 2021)
- Kenya: $1.4 billion (up 17%)
- Sri Lanka: $1.2 billion (down -11.3%)
- India: $693.8 million (up 10.4%)
- Poland: $112.8 million (down -18.4%)
- Rwanda: $109.2 million (up 5%)
- Malawi: $79.7 million (up 9.1%)
- Argentina: $62.5 million (down -16.6%)
- Indonesia: $60.2 million (down -8.9%)
- Uganda: $34.8 million (down -58.9%)
- Nepal: $31.7 million (up 37.7%)
- Tanzania: $29.4 million (down -9.4%)
- Burundi: $25.2 million (up 4.4%)
- Zimbabwe: $15.7 million (up 4.3%)
- Taiwan: $14.6 million (down -40.8%)
Mainland China generated the highest surplus in the international trade of tea. In turn, this positive cashflow confirms China’s strong competitive advantage for this specific product category.
Countries Causing Worst Deficits Trading Tea
The following countries posted the highest negative net exports for tea during 2022. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports. Thus, the statistics below present the deficit between the value of each country’s imported tea purchases and its exports for that same commodity.
- Pakistan: -US$628.3 million (net export deficit up 9.3% since 2021)
- United States of America: -$462 million (up 5.5%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$329.6 million (reversing a $150.5 million surplus)
- Russia: -$309.3 million (down -3.7%)
- Egypt: -$260.8 million (up 22.3%)
- United Kingdom: -$233.1 million (up 38.8%)
- Morocco: -$221.3 million (up 26.6%)
- Iran: -$198.7 million (down -44.5%)
- Hong Kong: -$189 million (down -11.3%)
- Iraq: -$175.2 million (down -16%)
- Ghana: -$119.5 million (down -6%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$109.9 million (down -37.7%)
- France: -$108.5 million (down -3.5%)
- Canada: -$107.4 million (down -2.8%)
- Australia: -$105.9 million (up 5.6%)
Highly populated Pakistan incurred the highest deficit in the international trade of tea. In turn, this negative cashflow highlights the Asian country’s strong competitive disadvantage for this specific product category but also signals opportunities for tea-supplying countries that help satisfy the powerful consumer demand.
Global Tea Exporting Companies
Below are global tea-processing conglomerates that represent established players engaged in the international tea trade. Their home country is shown within parenthesis.
- Akbar Tea (Sri Lanka)
- Bigelow Tea Company (United States)
- Douwe Egberts aka Pickwick (Netherlands)
- George Steuart Group (Sri Lanka)
- Harada Tea Processing (Japan)
- Lancashire Tea (United Kingdom)
- Red Rose Tea (United States)
- Salada Tea (United States)
- Teekanne (Germany)
- Ten Fu Group (China)
- Tetley – Tata Global Beverages (India)
- Twinings (United Kingdom)
Searchable List of Tea Exporting Countries in 2022
The 100 top tea exporters in the automated database below accounted for 99.97% of international tea sales.
| Rank | Exporter | Tea Exports | 2021-2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | China | $2,082,700,000 | -9.4% |
| 2. | Kenya | $1,385,714,000 | +16.2% |
| 3. | Sri Lanka | $1,234,195,000 | -11.3% |
| 4. | India | $751,061,000 | +9.2% |
| 5. | Poland | $252,689,000 | -3.8% |
| 6. | Germany | $228,695,000 | -8.6% |
| 7. | Japan | $170,411,000 | -10.3% |
| 8. | United Kingdom | $122,993,000 | -9% |
| 9. | Rwanda | $109,422,000 | +5% |
| 10. | Vietnam | $99,665,000 | -51.2% |
| 11. | Taiwan | $99,020,000 | -12.6% |
| 12. | United States | $97,701,000 | +4.1% |
| 13. | Indonesia | $89,990,000 | +0.9% |
| 14. | United Arab Emirates | $80,576,000 | -76.2% |
| 15. | Malawi | $79,760,000 | +8.8% |
| 16. | Netherlands | $74,532,000 | -20.1% |
| 17. | Argentina | $65,460,000 | -14.9% |
| 18. | France | $62,279,000 | -1.4% |
| 19. | Belgium | $61,865,000 | +17.1% |
| 20. | Russia | $55,789,000 | -51.5% |
| 21. | Hong Kong | $40,497,000 | -17.7% |
| 22. | Morocco | $35,735,000 | +9.3% |
| 23. | Uganda | $35,290,000 | -58.5% |
| 24. | Nepal | $32,518,000 | +35.2% |
| 25. | Canada | $32,473,000 | +4.2% |
| 26. | Tanzania | $30,020,000 | -8.7% |
| 27. | Singapore | $27,296,000 | +16.4% |
| 28. | Kazakhstan | $26,739,000 | +31.8% |
| 29. | Switzerland | $26,209,000 | -12.1% |
| 30. | South Africa | $25,913,000 | +13.6% |
| 31. | Burundi | $25,167,000 | +4.3% |
| 32. | Türkiye | $24,751,000 | +13.9% |
| 33. | Jordan | $21,254,000 | -36.1% |
| 34. | Pakistan | $20,726,000 | -5.3% |
| 35. | Thailand | $20,474,000 | -15.8% |
| 36. | Zimbabwe | $16,862,000 | +5% |
| 37. | Peru | $13,935,000 | +263.3% |
| 38. | Spain | $13,834,000 | +3.9% |
| 39. | Czech Republic | $13,741,000 | +22.6% |
| 40. | South Korea | $13,207,000 | -21.3% |
| 41. | Egypt | $11,862,000 | +49% |
| 42. | Azerbaijan | $11,517,000 | +35.6% |
| 43. | Austria | $10,827,000 | -6.3% |
| 44. | Sweden | $9,034,000 | +59.2% |
| 45. | Denmark | $8,635,000 | +5.2% |
| 46. | Malaysia | $8,515,000 | -76.3% |
| 47. | Iran | $8,079,000 | -71.1% |
| 48. | Australia | $7,601,000 | -8.1% |
| 49. | Ireland | $7,197,000 | -8% |
| 50. | Italy | $6,926,000 | -0.5% |
| 51. | Saudi Arabia | $6,051,000 | -50.7% |
| 52. | Mozambique | $5,412,000 | -13% |
| 53. | Latvia | $4,427,000 | -1.5% |
| 54. | Ukraine | $4,064,000 | -33.4% |
| 55. | Myanmar | $3,879,000 | +49.6% |
| 56. | Lithuania | $3,246,000 | -26.5% |
| 57. | Israel | $3,041,000 | -5.9% |
| 58. | Senegal | $2,638,000 | +105.3% |
| 59. | New Zealand | $2,166,000 | -60.1% |
| 60. | Portugal | $2,083,000 | -4.4% |
| 61. | Georgia | $2,051,000 | +13.8% |
| 62. | Chile | $1,756,000 | -60.5% |
| 63. | Ethiopia | $1,749,000 | -27.9% |
| 64. | Brazil | $1,510,000 | +33.4% |
| 65. | Bangladesh | $1,444,000 | -49.2% |
| 66. | Djibouti | $1,434,000 | +2.4% |
| 67. | Jamaica | $1,316,000 | -62.9% |
| 68. | Ecuador | $1,290,000 | -11% |
| 69. | Luxembourg | $1,100,000 | -35% |
| 70. | Estonia | $1,072,000 | +51.2% |
| 71. | Finland | $1,069,000 | -23.9% |
| 72. | Macao | $1,058,000 | +31.1% |
| 73. | Hungary | $951,000 | -16.2% |
| 74. | Costa Rica | $877,000 | -15.6% |
| 75. | Armenia | $843,000 | +553.5% |
| 76. | Croatia | $817,000 | -5.9% |
| 77. | Yemen | $775,000 | -93.3% |
| 78. | Laos | $752,000 | -80% |
| 79. | Colombia | $744,000 | -71.8% |
| 80. | Mexico | $739,000 | -13% |
| 81. | Lebanon | $724,000 | +59.1% |
| 82. | Lesotho | $702,000 | +146.3% |
| 83. | Equatorial Guinea | $690,000 | 0% |
| 84. | Trinidad/Tobago | $676,000 | +1.5% |
| 85. | Greece | $625,000 | -2% |
| 86. | Romania | $610,000 | -40.8% |
| 87. | Serbia | $554,000 | +24.5% |
| 88. | Slovenia | $517,000 | +49.4% |
| 89. | Fiji | $515,000 | +24.7% |
| 90. | Slovakia | $509,000 | -14.7% |
| 91. | Bulgaria | $504,000 | +3.3% |
| 92. | Niger | $503,000 | -23.7% |
| 93. | Uzbekistan | $499,000 | +74.5% |
| 94. | Honduras | $492,000 | +49100% |
| 95. | Kyrgyzstan | $360,000 | +30% |
| 96. | Papua New Guinea | $344,000 | -65.6% |
| 97. | Cameroon | $288,000 | +14300% |
| 98. | Guatemala | $282,000 | +18% |
| 99. | Sierra Leone | $272,000 | +11% |
| 100. | Togo | $259,000 | +63.9% |
Focusing on the 100 leading exporters, the fastest growing tea sellers on global markets from 2021 to 2022 were the Honduras (up 49,100%), Cameroon (up 14,300%), Armenia (up 553.5%), Peru (up 263.3%) and Lesotho (up 146.3%).
You can change the presentation order in the database by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. The right-most column highlights the percentage change in worldwide tea exports from 2021 to 2022.
Note that an entry of 0% in the far-right column means no value for 2021 was available.
Average Prices for Top Tea Export Countries
In 2022, the world average price for globally exported tea was an estimated US$7,092 per ton. That dollar metric reflects a 61.1% increase compared to an average $4,404 per ton during 2021.
Listed below are the average unit prices for the 15 countries that exported the greatest value in exported tea during 2022.
- China: US$5,544 per ton of exported tea (down -10.9% from 2021)
- Kenya: $2,510 per ton (up 17.1%)
- Sri Lanka: $4,716 per ton (down -4.1%)
- India: $3,246 per ton (down -6.9%)
- Poland: $11,378 per ton (down -5.5%)
- Germany: $10,542 per ton (down -5.6%)
- Japan: $26,719 per ton (down -11%)
- United Kingdom: $7,195 per ton (down -14.2%)
- Rwanda: $2,915 per ton (up 8.8%)
- Vietnam: $2,010 per ton (down 0%)
- Taiwan: $12,404 per ton (down -1.8%)
- United States of America: $6,490 per ton (up 5.4%)
- Indonesia: $2,010 per ton (down -3.9%)
- United Arab Emirates: $00 per ton (down -100%)
- Malawi: $1,615 per ton (down -0.4%)
The least costly tea is exported from Malawi, Vietnam, Indonesia, Kenya, Rwanda and India. All of these top tea exporters charged well below than the global average of $7,092 per ton in 2022.
The most expensive tea was shipped from Germany, Poland, Taiwan, Japan the United Arab Emirates.
See also Tea Imports by Country, Hot Chocolate Exports by Country, Coffee Exports by Country and Coffee Imports by Country
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Supplier showroom for Tea. Accessed on July 25, 2023
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on July 25, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on July 25, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on July 25, 2023
