Tea Imports by Country

Global purchases of imported tea totaled US$7.349 billion in 2017.

Overall, the value of imported tea for all buyer countries fell by an average -0.5% since 2013 when tea purchases equaled at $7.31 billion. Year over year, the value of tea imports appreciated by 6.8% from 2016 to 2017.

From a continental perspective, Asian countries accounted for the highest dollar worth of tea imported during 2017 with purchases valued at $3.1 billion or 42.3% of the global total.

In second place were European countries at 30.3% while 14.7% of worldwide tea imports were delivered to customers in Africa. North America’s imported tea amounted to an 8.8% share. Smaller percentages were purchased by customers in Oceania (1.9%) and Latin America minus Mexico plus the Caribbean (1.2%).

Below are the 15 countries that imported the highest dollar value worth of tea during 2017:

1. Pakistan: US$549.6 million (7.5% of globally imported tea)
2. Russia: $525 million (7.2%)
3. United States: $486.8 million (6.7%)
4. United Kingdom: $404 million (5.5%)
5. Iran: $283.8 million (3.9%)
6. Egypt: $273.8 million (3.7%)
7. Saudi Arabia: $263.2 million (3.6%)
8. United Arab Emirates: $238.8 million (3.3%)
9. Germany: $225.2 million (3.1%)
10. Morocco: $219.8 million (3%)
11. Japan: $177.3 million (2.4%)
12. France: $168.4 million (2.3%)
13. Canada: $149.6 million (2%)
14. China: $149.4 million (2%)
15. Netherlands: $147.7 million (2%)

By value, the listed 15 countries purchased 58.3% of all tea imports in 2017.

Among the above countries, the fastest-growing markets for tea since 2013 were: China (up 98.5%), Pakistan (up 72.6%), Morocco (up 15.8%) and Saudi Arabia (up 13.3%).

Those countries that posted declines in their imported tea purchases were led by: United Arab Emirates (down -65.7%), Russia (down -20.1%), Canada (down -14.4%) and Iran (down -13.7%)

By Daniel Workman