In 2024, South Indian tea contributed significantly to India’s tea exports, with a promising outlook for 2025 due to less impact from adverse climatic conditions compared with the northern regions.Higher prices and rising wages led to increased production costs, leading likely to a drop in tea production by 120-130 million kg nationwide.
However, exports saw a 23% increase, driven by higher purchases from countries such as Iraq, Russia, the UAE, Germany, the US, and Iran. The average tea price in South India rose by 13.2%, and although it produced only 17% of the country’s tea, it accounted for 41% of exports in 2024.