8 Numbers Behind... Tea

After water, tea is the most popular and widely consumed beverage in the world: a lot of interesting tea facts and a few secrets can be gleaned from the statistics regarding it.

Tea facts and figures: 8 numbers behind tea

0.12 tons of tea are consumed annually in the United Kingdom. A quantity that is considerable but not surprising in view of this country’s tradition. You may be surprised to learn, however, that Her Majesty’s realm is not the world’s biggest tea consumer. On the contrary, it is well behind China which tops the charts with 1.6 million tons (over 1000 times more than the United Kingdom!). India comes second (1 million), followed by Turkey (0.23 million), Russia (0.16 million), the United States, Pakistan (0.13 million) and Japan (0.121). So the consumption of this beverage in English tearooms only justifies a mere eighth place.

3% is roughly the amount of caffeine contained in tea. According to the variety, it corresponds to a quantity ranging between 30 and 90 milligrams to a cup of approximately 250 ml. Black tea is the variety containing most caffeine: about 22-28 milligrams to 1 gram. Bear in mind that one cup of Italian espresso coffee contains between 47 and 75 milligrams of caffeine.

6 main tea varieties are to be found worldwide. In the case of green tea, heat is used to prevent the fermentation process as soon as the leaves are harvested in order to preserve its green colour and natural properties. On the contrary, black tea is left to oxidize, which confers a more intense fragrance but partially impairs its properties. Then, there is “oolong” (semi-fermented) tea, white tea (processed to a lesser extent), yellow tea (very rare) and fermented tea.

30% is the average polyphenol content of tea. Polyphenols are among the most important substances contained in this beverage, and account for most of its natural properties. First and foremost, astringency, the only property actually confirmed by laboratory experiments. Besides, if we exclude caffeine and polyphenols, tea is a beverage with very few nutritional substances, apart from a negligible quantity of manganese (0.5 milligrams per cup).

1907 was the year when the American tea merchant, Thomas Sullivan, started to distribute dried leaves in little bags of Chinese silk tied with a long thread. The first customers found it very convenient to be able to leave the bag in boiling water and “refill” it with fresh leaves. In actual fact, tea bags only became widespread after the Second World War: since tea was rationed during the conflict, consumers got used to using it in sachets.

30% is the average polyphenol content of tea. Polyphenols are among the most important substances contained in this beverage, and account for most of its natural properties. First and foremost, astringency, the only property actually confirmed by laboratory experiments. Besides, if we exclude caffeine and polyphenols, tea is a beverage with very few nutritional substances, apart from a negligible quantity of manganese (0.5 milligrams per cup).

416,000 tons of tea are exported by Kenya. That is to say, practically all the tea it produces. The runner up in this particular respect is China with 330,000 tons, which shows that this country drinks much of the tea it produces. The third place goes to Sri Lanka, with 311000 tons of tea exported.

1,930,000 tons of tea enable India to top the charts of the world’s biggest producers. This country is followed at a great distance by China (1.2 million) and Kenya (0.44 million). Asia is the continent that produces most tea of all: with an overall output of around 4 million tons.

3,200,000 tons of black tea are produced worldwide every year. This is the most widespread variety of tea. In 2023, it is expected to reach the 4 million mark. On the whole, a modest increase compared to that of green tea which is expected to soar from just over one million tons to more than three million tons by 2023. The supremacy of black tea is being challenged.