The country’s tea production has shown impressive growth in the first half of this year. In addition, tea production in this period was 8.212 million kilograms higher than in 2025, or 36.63%. Thus, tea garden owners and government regulatory authorities are expecting production to surpass the announced target this year. Industry stakeholders said the surge in production was mainly because of higher tea prices at the auction and good weather conditions.
An analysis of Tea Board data shows that the country’s 172 tea gardens and small-scale tea growers had produced 22.419 million kilograms of tea by June 2025. In the same period of 2024 production was 24.305 million kilos. Thus, production increased by 6.326 million kilograms, or 26.03%, in the first half of the year compared to 2024.
The Bangladesh Tea Board’s June production figures showed that the first six months of 2026 recorded the highest tea production compared to the same period of 2024 and 2025. Progress in achieving the annual target for tea production is also ahead of the previous two years. Demand for tea at the auctions has been strong and price levels have already been revised twice, with another revision under consideration for the current season The tea production itself is also robust, with tea industry investors reporting strong activity in the auction market.
According to the statistical analysis, tea production in January 2026 amounted to 573,000 kilograms. In the same month, 309,000 kilograms were produced in 2025 and 175,000 kilograms were produced in 2024. In February 2026 production dropped to 24,000 kilograms. In 2025, tea production was 30,000 kilograms and in 2024, it was 42,000 kilograms.
From March, tea production showed a marked increase. Production in March 2026 was 2.558 million kilograms, compared with 1.335 million kilograms in 2025 and 1.593 million kilograms in 2024. In April the growth trend continued. Tea production in April 2026 was 5.918 million Kgs compared to 2.272 million Kgs in 2025 and 4.882 million Kgs in 2024.
In May 2026, tea production was 9.153 million kilograms, up from 8.648 million kilograms in May 2025 and 4.775 million kilograms in May 2024. Production of tea was 12.405 million kilograms in June 2026. Production in June 2024 was 12.837 million kilograms and production in June 2025 was 9.825 million kilograms.
At the start of this year, favorable weather conditions, high tea prices, and greater demand at auctions led the tea garden owners to boost their production. In the first four months of the year, tea output amounted to 9.073 million kilograms, this being about 130% more than that recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The Tea Board has fixed a national target for tea production of 104 million kilograms for the year 2026, and by the end of June production had amounted to about 29.45 per cent of the annual target. Even though there have been production shortfalls and a rise in production costs in the tea industry over the last two years, the people involved in the industry expect tea production to go beyond the target this year since strong results were achieved in the first six months.
It is generally known that tea prices at the domestic auctions have kept on increasing over the last two years since minimum price levels were introduced. This year, the Ministry of Commerce has also held talks with producers, buyers and trading firms in order to look at the floor price or minimum price level. Consequently, demand for tea and its prices have stayed strong since the first auction of the season. At the principal auction centre in Chattogram, the average price of tea up to the most recent auction was over 280 Bangladesh taka per kilogram, excluding duties. Moreover, buyers have been buying about 90 to 95 percent of the tea that is offered at nearly every auction, and people involved in the industry state that this high level of demand is prompting the tea gardens to aim at supplying the greatest possible quantity of tea to the market.
So the tea prices at the three auction markets throughout the country are currently at their highest point in the last ten years. At the main auction market in Chattogram, almost 100% of the tea put up for sale is being sold in each auction, and the average price per kilogram has gone above BDT 300. At the 15th auction held in Chattogram on 10 August, 2.296 million kilograms of tea were sold at an average price of BDT 299.63 per kilogram. At the 15th auction in Sreemangal on 12 August, 59,727 kilograms of tea were sold at an average price of BDT 277.91 per kilogram. In Panchagarh, bought-leaf tea had previously been selling for about BDT 120 to 150 per kilogram during the season; however, at the most recent 9th auction on 11 August, 6,752 kilograms of tea were sold at an average price of BDT 266.32 per kilogram. The rise in demand and higher prices at auction has led tea gardens to increase their production. Industry stakeholders have also observed that the sufficient and well-distributed rainfall this season has had a positive effect on tea production.