Demand for green tea from Japan jumped 98 percent in 2025, reaching 72.1 billion yen (US$463 million), with exports jumping 43 percent to reach 12,612 metric tons. That’s the first time that the export volume came in above 10,000 tons in 71 years of tracking, and it’s in no small part thanks to the surge in interest in matcha. The current export price for green tea is 5,716 yen per kilogram, which is up 86 percent over the past five years. Thing is, though, that’s not even close to hitting global demand, which is seeing buyers go to China and South Korea for matcha. Indeed, Japan’s tea plantations have seen the harvesting area decline by 29 percent over the past decade, thanks largely to a labor crunch.
Mao Kato, Nikkei Asia
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