World tea trade pattern

In the process of the world entering a unified global market, tea, like coffee, cocoa and other beverages, has been highly praised by Western countries and has become the world’s largest beverage.

According to the latest statistics of the International Tea Council, in 2017, the global tea planting area reached 4.89 million hectares, the tea output was 5.812 million tons, and the global tea consumption was 5.571 million tons. The contradiction between world tea production and sales is still prominent. The world’s tea growth mainly comes from China and India. China has become the world’s largest tea producer. To this end, sorting out and analyzing the world tea production and trade pattern, clearly grasping the dynamic trends of the world tea industry, is of great significance for looking forward to the development prospects and trade pattern trends of China’s tea industry, guiding supply-side structural reforms, and improving the international competitiveness of Chinese tea.

★The volume of tea trade declined

According to statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Statistics Database, at this stage there are 49 major tea-growing countries, and tea-consuming countries cover 205 countries and regions on five continents. From 2000 to 2016, the total world tea trade showed an upward trend and then a downward trend. The total world tea trade increased from 2.807 million tons in 2000 to 3.4423 million tons in 2016, an increase of 22.61%. Among them, imports increased from 1,343,200 tons in 2000 to 1,741,300 tons in 2016, an increase of 29.64%; exports increased from 1,464,300 tons in 2000 to 1,701,100 tons in 2016, an increase of 16.17%.

In recent years, the world tea trade volume has begun to show a downward trend. The total tea trade volume in 2016 decreased by 163,000 tons compared with the same period in 2015, a year-on-year decrease of 4.52%. Among them, the import volume decreased by 114,500 tons compared with the same period in 2015, a year-on-year decrease of 6.17%, and the export volume decreased by 41,100 tons compared with the same period of 2015, a year-on-year decrease of 2.77%. The gap between import volume and export volume is continuously narrowing.

★The intercontinental distribution of tea trade has changed

With the changes in tea consumption and production, the volume of tea trade between continents has developed accordingly. In 2000, Asia’s tea exports accounted for 66% of the world’s tea exports, making it the most important export base for tea in the world, followed by Africa at 24%, Europe at 5%, the Americas at 4%, and Oceania at 1%. By 2016, Asia’s tea exports as a share of the world’s tea exports dropped by 4 percentage points to 62%. Africa, Europe and America all increased slightly, rising to 25%, 7%, and 6% respectively. The proportion of Oceania’s tea exports in the world has been almost negligible, dropping to 0.25 million tons. It can be found that Asia and Africa are the main tea export continents.

From 2000 to 2016, Asian tea exports accounted for more than 50% of world tea exports. Although the proportion has declined in recent years, it is still the largest tea export continent; Africa is the second largest tea export continent. In recent years, tea The proportion of exports rose slightly.

From the perspective of tea imports from all continents, Asia’s imports in the early 20th century accounted for about 3%. By 2000, it had accounted for 36%. In 2016, it had increased to 45%, becoming the world’s main tea import base; Europe in the early 19th century China’s imports accounted for 64% of the world’s tea imports, which fell to 36% in 2000, which was comparable to Asia, and further dropped to 30% in 2016; Africa’s imports fell slightly from 2000 to 2016, down from 17% To 14%; America’s tea imports accounted for the world’s share of the world basically unchanged, still at about 10%. Imports from Oceania increased from 2000 to 2016, but its share in the world declined slightly. It can be found that Asia and Europe are the main tea import continents in the world, and the tea import trend in Europe and Asia is showing a trend of “decreasing and increasing”. Asia has surpassed Europe to become the largest tea import continent.

★The concentration of tea import and export markets is relatively concentrated

The top five tea exporters in 2016 were China, Kenya, Sri Lanka, India and Argentina, whose exports accounted for 72.03% of the world’s total tea exports. The top ten tea exporters’ tea exports accounted for 85.20% of the world’s total tea exports. It can be found that developing countries are the main tea exporters. The top ten tea exporting countries are all developing countries, which is in line with the law of world trade, that is, developing countries dominate the low-value-added raw material market. Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Tanzania and other countries saw a decline in tea exports. Among them, Indonesia’s exports fell by 17.12%, Sri Lanka, India, and Tanzania fell by 5.91%, 1.96%, and 10.24%, respectively.

From 2000 to 2016, China’s tea trade continued to grow, and the development of tea export trade was significantly higher than that of import trade in the same period. Especially after joining the WTO, many opportunities have been created for China’s tea trade. In 2015, China became the largest tea exporter for the first time. In 2016, my country’s tea exports have increased by 130 countries and regions, mainly green tea exports. The export markets are also mainly concentrated in West, North, Africa, Asia and other countries and regions, mainly Morocco, Japan, Uzbekistan, the United States, Russia, Hong Kong, Senegal, Ghana, Mauritani, etc.

The top five tea importing countries in 2016 were Pakistan, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. Their imports accounted for 39.38% of the world’s total tea imports, and the top ten tea importing countries accounted for 57.48%. Developing countries account for the majority of the top ten tea importing countries, which shows that with the continuous economic development, tea consumption in developing countries is also gradually increasing. Russia is the world’s major tea consumer and importer. 95% of its residents have the habit of drinking tea. It has been the world’s largest tea importer since 2000. Pakistan has grown rapidly in tea consumption in recent years. In 2016, it surpassed Russia to become the world’s largest tea. import country.

The developed countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany are also major tea importers. The United States and the United Kingdom are one of the world’s major importers and consumers, importing tea from almost all tea producing countries in the world. In 2014, the United States surpassed the United Kingdom for the first time, becoming the world’s third largest tea importer after Russia and Pakistan. In 2016, China’s tea imports accounted for only 3.64% of the world’s total tea imports. There were 46 importing countries (regions). The main import trading partners were Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and India. The three together accounted for about 80% of China’s total tea imports. At the same time, China’s tea imports are much lower than tea exports. In 2016, China’s tea imports only accounted for 18.81% of exports, indicating that tea is one of the main agricultural products that China’s tea exports earn foreign exchange.


Post time: Mar-17-2021

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