INDIAN TEA INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE IN 2022 - 2023
India is the second-largest producer of tea globally. Indian tea is one of the finest in the world thanks to its geographical position and climate. A total of 6.37 lakh hectares of area is cultivated in India for tea production.
India is also among the world's top tea-consuming countries, with 80% of the tea produced in the country consumed by the domestic population. Exports of tea from India stood at US$ 818 million in FY23.
The northern part of India is the biggest producer at about 83% of the country's annual tea production in 2022 with the majority of the production coming from Assam followed by West Bengal. The Assam Valley and Cachar are the two tea-producing regions in Assam. In West Bengal, Dooars, Terai and Darjeeling are the three major tea producer regions.
The southern part of India produces about 17% of the country's total production with the major producing states being Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka India is among the top 5 tea exporters in the world making about 10% of the total exports.
Indian Tea ExportsIndia's total tea exports during 2022 in quantity were 201 million kg. During the financial year 2022,c India exported tea worth US$ 458.88 million.
India's export price per kilogram has seen a steady increase over the years. During 2021-22, the unit price of tea was US$ 3.62 per kg. This, in the previous year, was US$ 3.52 per kg. From 2018-19, the price per unit of tea exported out of India has increased by 17% in 2021-22.
India exports tea to more than 25 countries throughout the world. Russia, Iran, UAE, USA, the UK, Germany, and China are some of the major importers of tea from India. During 2022 Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan imported 32.5 million kg, 1.68 million kgs and 6.48 million kg of tea from India. The share of Indian exports to the CIS nations during that period was 21% (42.5 million kgs) of the total exports. Iran, UAE and the USA are among India's top tea export destinations. During 2022, the three countries imported 29.3 million kgs, 23.3 million kgs and 13.5 million kgs of tea from India. The value of total exports to these countries combined was US$ 277.3 million during the same period.
During 2022, the exports to Germany, the USA, UAE and Ireland increased by 14%, 12%, 70% and 17% respectively over the previous year. Some of India's other tea export destinations are Poland, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Japan, Pakistan and Australia, etc.
