Who Drinks Tea?

Tea is the second most widely consumed drink around the world, coming in only after water. In 2020, the FAO estimated that some 7 billion metric tons of tea were produced worldwide, with China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia among the main tea producers in terms of production volume. According to the Statista Consumer Market Outlook, the global tea market size is expected to hit $266.7 billion by 2025.

The following chart uses data from Statista’s Consumer Insights to show the respective share of tea drinkers in selected countries. Turkey had the highest rate of tea drinkers in 2022, with nine in ten people saying that they regularly drink the hot beverage. Kenya, a major producer and exporter of tea, also ranked highly in the 56 countries analyzed, with 83 percent of its respondents saying they regularly drink tea. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, famed as a nation that loves a cuppa, ranked slightly lower with 59 percent of people drinking it. While still high, this is some ten percentage points lower than neighboring tea drinking country Ireland. In the global comparison, Spain came closer to the bottom, with just over a third of people regularly drinking tea.

The World Tea Conference and Expo 2023 kicks off today in Las Vegas, running from Mar 27-29.