Who Drinks Tea?

Tea is the second most widely consumed drink around the world, coming in only after water. The FAO estimates that some 6.7 million tonnes of tea were produced worldwide in 2022, with China, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka 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 $134.4 billion by 2025.

The following chart uses survey 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 of those polled, with around nine in ten people saying that they regularly have the hot drink. Kenya, a major producer and exporter of tea, also ranked highly out of the 56 countries analyzed, with 83 percent of its respondents saying they regularly drink tea. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, known as a nation that loves a cuppa, ranked slightly lower with 58 percent of people drinking it. While still high, this is six percentage points lower than neighboring tea drinking country Ireland. In the global comparison, Spain came closer to the bottom, with four in ten people regularly drinking tea.

May 21 is the UN’s International Tea Day, which aims to not only celebrate the cultural heritage, health benefits and economic importance of tea but also to “ensure that the tea sector continues to play a role in reducing extreme poverty, fighting hunger and safeguarding natural resources.”