Ranked: The World’s Largest Tea Producers
Key Takeaways
- China produces 53% of the world’s tea, nearly three times as much as second-ranked India.
- The top eight countries account for 93% of global tea production.
- Kenya ranks third globally and is the only non-Asian country among the eight largest producers.
Tea is the world’s most-consumed drink after water, with global production reaching 7.05 million metric tons in 2024. That was nearly double the amount produced 20 years earlier.
Black tea remains the dominant variety, while green tea accounts for about one-third of global production.
This visualization ranks the world’s largest tea-producing countries in 2024, measured in metric tons. The data comes from the International Tea Committee Ltd via the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal.
China Dominates Global Tea Production
China, where tea originated, produced 3.74 million metric tons of tea in 2024, accounting for 53% of global output. Its production was nearly three times that of India, the world’s second-largest producer.
| Rank | Country | 2024 Production (in 1,000 Metric Tons) |
Share of Global Production (%) | Region |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  China |
3,740 | 53 | Asia |
| 2 |  India |
1,285 | 18 | Asia |
| 3 |  Kenya |
599 | 8 | Africa |
| 4 |  Türkiye |
273 | 4 | Asia |
| 5 |  Sri Lanka |
262 | 4 | Asia |
| 6 |  Vietnam |
180 | 3 | Asia |
| 7 |  Indonesia |
125 | 2 | Asia |
| 8 |  Japan |
74 | 1 | Asia |
| — |  World total |
7,053 | 100 | — |
China’s lead reflects the enormous scale of its tea industry and the country’s long history with the crop. Its 2024 output alone exceeded the combined production of India, Kenya, Türkiye, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Japan.
Indian Tea Ranks Second, With Strong Domestic Demand
India produced 1.29 million metric tons of tea in 2024, equal to 18% of global production. Together, China and India accounted for 71% of the world’s tea output.
More than half of India’s tea is consumed domestically, making the country not only a major producer but also one of the world’s largest tea markets.
Kenya ranks third with 599,000 metric tons, or 8% of global production. It is the only country outside Asia among the world’s eight largest tea producers.
Despite producing less than half as much tea as India, Kenya is the world’s leading tea exporter. China and India, by comparison, consume large shares of their production domestically.
The World’s Tea Production Is Concentrated in Asia
Seven of the eight largest tea-producing countries are located in Asia. Beyond China and India, major Asian producers include Türkiye, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Japan. Türkiye also has the world’s highest per capita tea consumption, at more than three kilograms annually.
Together, the top eight producers accounted for 93% of the world’s tea production in 2024. The rest of the world produced a combined 515,000 metric tons, or 7% of global output.
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