Global tea exports through the spring months of 2021 had not offset setbacks in 2020 when tea sales from all countries declined to $7.1 billion, a shortfall of -8.6% compared to 2019. Keep reading the article to know more about “How has the pandemic reshuffled the ranking of tea exports in the world?”
Ranking of tea exports among some major countries
China retains its dominance, earning a 28.7% share of tea export value globally in 2020 with more than $2 billion in sales, nearly double Kenya’s $1.1 billion export earnings. But overall export volume is down 11.5% year-over-year, according to China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA) statistics.
Sri Lanka’s tea exports were valued at $712 million, which is down but well ahead of India, which experienced sharp declines through 2020. Hard-hit by the pandemic with an estimated 1.1 million deaths, India’s tea industry earned $692 million from tea exports in 2020 and is likely to see a significantly greater decline in volume in 2021, according to the Tea Board of India.
The board estimated Indian exports would decline 15% from the 208 million kilos exported in 2020. January through March, exports declined 13% compared to 2020 and were down by 29% compared to 2019. Total production stands at 46 million kilos through March, compared to 53 million kilos during the same period in 2020. Exports may decline by 30 to 40 million kilos for the year.
Poland earned $264.5 million in sales to emerge as one of the top five exporters by value, surpassing Germany, which ranked 6th, and the UK, which ranked 9th according to World’s Top Exports. Analyst Daniel Workman writes that among the top exporters, “the fastest growing tea exporters from 2019 to 2020 were The Netherlands (up 22%), Japan (up 12.5%), Indonesia (up 4.3%), and Poland, up 3.6% by value.”
Countries with the greatest decline in tea exports by value include Vietnam (down 43.9%), United Arab Emirates (down 40.9%), the US (down 20.6%), Taiwan (down 19.7%), and Sri Lanka, down 18.3%.
“By value, the top five exporters generate more than 67.7% of exports and the 15 top tea exporting countries shipped 85.9% of global exports in 2020,” writes Workman.