China Controls Half of World Tea Production, Where Does Indonesia Stand?
Global tea production reached 7.05 million tonnes in 2024. Of that total, more than half came from China. Data from the International Tea Committee (ITC), cited by the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, shows China’s tea production reached 3.74 million tonnes, equivalent to 53% of total global output.
This dominance puts a very wide gap between China and the next largest producer. India, in second place, produced 1.29 million tonnes, or about 18% of the world total. In other words, China’s tea production is nearly three times larger than India’s.
This concentration of production makes the world’s tea supply highly dependent on Asia. Of the eight largest tea-producing countries, seven are in Asia. Only Kenya lies outside the region.
Combined, China and India generated around 71% of world tea production in 2024. The sheer size of the two countries’ contribution means that changes in production due to weather, plantation productivity or trade policy could potentially affect the balance of the international tea market.
China maintains its position as the leading producer because it has extensive plantation areas and a tea cultivation tradition stretching back thousands of years. The country’s production volume even exceeds the combined output of India, Kenya, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan.
India ranks second with production of around 1.285 million tonnes. Most of the harvest is absorbed by the domestic market, making the country both a producer and one of the world’s largest tea consumers.
In third place is Kenya with production of 599,000 tonnes, or about 8% of the world total. Although its volume is still far below India’s, Kenya is the world’s largest tea exporter. This differs from China and India, which consume most of their production domestically.
Turkey is in fourth place with production of 273,000 tonnes, followed by Sri Lanka with 262,000 tonnes. Vietnam produced 180,000 tonnes and ranks sixth.
Indonesia is in seventh place with production of 125,000 tonnes, or about 2% of world tea production. This position makes Indonesia one of the main players in the global tea industry, although its contribution still lags far behind the market-leading countries.
Japan completes the list of the eight largest producers with production of 74,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, all countries outside the top eight produced around 515,000 tonnes, or only 7% of total global output.
The data shows that the world tea industry has a high level of concentration. As much as 93% of global production comes from just eight countries. This market structure means that production dynamics in Asia have a major influence on the availability of the world’s tea supply.