Japan's exports of tea declined in value in 2022, falling 10.3% to $170.4 million, according to Comtrade. Japan was the world's seventh largest exporter of tea by value last year, accounting for 2.2% of global value.
The decline reflected the high base effect of record tea export value in 2021, when pandemic-related trends ramped up demand.
In volume terms, exports in 2022 rose slightly, by some 1.3%, to 6,381 metric tons, according to Japan Customs data.
Green tea has been outperforming other Japanese tea varieties in the export market, as seen during the first five months of 2023. The value of shipments of matcha and other green tea during January–May rose by 4% year-on-year to 9.1 billion yen, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Green tea exports are up by 50% since 2017.
The ministry attributed the increase this year “to a rise in the ratio of shipments of powdered tea, including high-priced matcha, bound for the United States, the top importer of Japanese green tea, accounting for 34% of Japan’s total exports by volume.”
In the domestic market, green tea consumption is declining, but producers have managed to "stay in the black" by switching to black tea, according to the Japan Times.
Households with two or more people spent $23.75 (3,530 yen) on loose-leaf green tea in 2021, down about 20% compared to 2011, according to a survey by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The survey indicated that spending on loose-leaf black tea had increased 10% during the same period to $5.56 (826 yen) per year.
Japan Times reports that black tea producers have doubled to 897, growing by 500 in the past ten years. A 2022 survey financed by black tea producers identified 204 producers in Shizuoka, 81 in Kagoshima, 51 in Kumamoto, 37 in Miyazaki, and 35 in Fukuoka.