India, China to drive global tea demand and production over next decade

India and China will drive global tea production and consumption over the next decade, UN body FAO today said while stressing on the need to take urgent measures to tackle adverse impact of climate change.

World black tea output is estimated to increase to 4.4 million tonnes by 2027 from 3.33 million tonnes in 2017, while green tea production is projected to increase to 3.6 million tonnes from 1.77 million tonnes in the said period, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in its latest report.

The annual production of green tea is projected to grow much faster by 7.5 per cent over the next decade when compared with black tea at only 2.2 per cent, it added.

According to the report, global consumption of black tea is estimated to increase to 4.16 million tonnes in 2027 from 3.29 million tonnes in 2017.

"Global tea consumption and production are projected to keep rising over the next decade, driven by robust demand in developing and emerging countries," the FAO said.

This will create new rural income opportunities and improve food security in tea-producing countries, it said.

Black tea production in India, the world's second largest producer, is projected to rise to 1.61 million tonnes in the next decade from 1.26 million tonnes in 2017.

Green tea output in China, the world's largest producer, is estimated to increase to 3.31 million tonnes in 2027 from 1.52 million tonnes in 2017.

On impact of climate change, the UN body warned that "tea production is highly sensitive to changes in growing conditions. Tea can only be produced in narrowly defined agro-ecological conditions and, hence, in a very limited number of countries, many of which will be heavily impacted by climate change."