Tea production dips 3.6% YoY in January

Friday, 20 February 2026 00:20 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka’s tea industry commenced 2026 with a year-on-year (YoY) decline in output in January, according to Forbes & Walker Research.

Tea production in January 2026 totalled 20.68 million kilos (M/kg), down by 0.78 M/kg or 3.63% compared with 21.46 M/kg recorded in January 2025.

High and Medium Grown elevations recorded YoY increases, whilst the Low Grown category registered a decline of 0.97 M/kg compared with January 2025.

High Grown production rose to 4.76 M/kg from 4.58 M/kg a year earlier, reflecting an increase of 0.18 M/kg or 4.04%. Medium Grown output edged up to 3.41 M/kg from 3.40 M/kg, an increase of 0.01 M/kg or 0.35%.

In contrast, Low Grown production declined to 12.32 M/kg from 13.30 M/kg, down by 0.97 M/kg or 7.32%. Green Tea production fell 1.24% to 0.19 M/kg.

Compared with January 2024, when production stood at 18.54M/kg, the January 2026 output reflects an increase of 2.14 M/kg or 11.59%.

In 2025, total tea production reached 264.12 M/Kg, gaining 1.43 M/kg from the previous year, with all three elevations (High, Medium and Low Grown) recording increases. Total tea export earnings increased by 6% YoY to $ 1.51 billion in 2025.