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China’s tea production slows
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China’s Sichuan Province in 2021 showed the biggest gain in tea production, recording a 34,700 metric ton increase compared to 2020. Farmers there earned an additional $735 million (RMB5 billion) in 2021.
Tea value surged as production slowed in China, which has powered tea growth for decades.
China is the world's largest tea producer and consumes 40% of global tea, mainly green. Consumption grew by an average of more than 10% per year from 2009-2019 but slowed to 2.5% in 2020. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, last year's consumption increased by 4.5%.
China produced 45% of the world’s tea in 2021, experiencing an overall increase of about 77,100 metric tons, according to the China Tea Marketing Association (CTMA). The value of China’s crop increased by $4.4 billion (RMB30 billion) to $43.2 billion an 11.5% increase, according to CTMA.
Tea volume increased to 3,063,151 kilos, up by 2.6%, compared to 2020. Acreage under tea grew by about 3% in China’s 18 major tea-producing provinces. Value exceeded RMB20 (about $3 billion) in six of China’s tea-producing provinces. The province with the highest value crop was Guizhou at RMB42 billion, followed by Sichuan at RMB33.5 billion, Fujian at RMB30 billion, Zhejiang at RMB26 billion, Hubei at RMB22 billion, and Yunnan at RMB20 billion.
Production stagnated in 2020 as China wrestled with Covid-19. Conditions improved in 2021 as demand for away-from-home tea returned to pre-pandemic levels. In 2022 the situation deteriorated with lockdowns eliminating tea sales at restaurants and cafes for months in Shanghai. At one point, there were Covid restrictions in 43 major cities.
Yellow tea, highly prized but grown in small quantities, was the only tea category that declined by volume in 2021, falling 8.3% to 13,300 metric tons. White tea saw the most significant increase to 81,900 metric tons, rising 11.4% compared to 2020.
Green tea production was flat at 0.36%, an increase of only 6,700 metric tons to 1.85 million metric tons. Black tea continues its growth spurt to 435,000 metric tons, an increase of 7.5% compared to 2020. Dark tea production increased to 397,000 metric tons, a 6.3% increase, amounting to 23,500 metric tons. Oolong remains the fourth most popular tea among growers at 287,000 metric tons but increased by only 3.4% compared to 2020.
The provinces that produced the largest quantities of tea were Fujian, Hubei, Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou. Sichuan showed the biggest gain in production, recording a 34,700 metric ton increase compared to 2020.
Tea cultivation is considered essential to the Chinese government's reducing rural poverty. The government has eased access to credit for farmers applying for loans from agricultural banks and rural co-operatives to purchase equipment and improve technology in the field. Consumption of black tea is accelerating, leading China to import significant quantities of orthodox and CTC from Africa, India, and Sri Lanka.