Bangladesh
A substantial producer whose crop is almost entirely drunk at home. The old gardens sit on the low hillocks of the Sylhet division, planted from the 1850s as part of the same Assam expansion that created the Indian industry, with a newer and quite different smallholder sector on the flat land of Panchagarh in the far north. Very little is exported, so the origin is largely invisible in the markets where Assam and Ceylon are household words.
History on this page: TeaHQ synthesis
TeaHQ's own reading of well-attested general knowledge, with no single source behind it.
This country’s description dates the establishment or the collapse of an industry. The label says on what basis — it governs the historical statements, not the production figures below, which carry their own definitions and sources.
Production, trade and price
| Measure | Year | Value | Basis | Published by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harvested area | 2023 | 57,228 ha | FAOSTAT QCL element 'Area harvested' for item 667 / CPC 01620 'Tea leaves', in hectares. FAO's methodology note warns that for permanent crops such as tea 'data may refer to total planted area' rather than area actually harvested, so this is the area under tea and not necessarily the area picked in the year. The associated crop is measured as green leaf. FAOSTAT flags this cell A, an official figure reported by the country. | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Statistics Division |
| Production | 2023 | 405,252 t estimated | FAOSTAT QCL element 'Production' for item 667 / CPC 01620 'Tea leaves', in tonnes. FAO's QCL methodology note states the domain 'contains production data for primary products', so this counts GREEN LEAF as plucked, not made tea. It is roughly four to five times the made-tea figure the same country's tea board publishes. FAOSTAT flags this cell E, a value estimated by the publishing agency rather than reported by the country. | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Statistics Division |
| Yield | 2023 | 7,081 kg/ha estimated | FAOSTAT QCL element 'Yield' for item 667 / CPC 01620 'Tea leaves', in kilograms per hectare, computed by FAO from the production and area figures rather than reported directly. Because production is GREEN LEAF and the area may be planted rather than harvested, this is green-leaf yield per hectare planted and is not comparable with a made-tea yield. FAO states that yields of permanent crops 'are not as reliable as those for temporary crops'. FAOSTAT flags this cell E, a value estimated by the publishing agency rather than reported by the country. | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Statistics Division |
Figures are reproduced as their publisher stated them and are not converted, averaged or ranked. Where two publishers disagree, both rows appear — this comes from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Statistics Division. The largest single trap in tea statistics is that FAO’s series counts green leaf as plucked while national tea boards count finished made tea, and the two differ by roughly a factor of four and a half. The basis column says which each row is, and a figure without it is not comparable to one with it.
How production is organised
Two industries in one country, and the contrast is the most useful thing about the origin. Sylhet is estate country on the Assam model — large gardens with resident workforces and their own factories. Panchagarh in the far north has essentially no estates: growers hold small plots and sell green leaf to independent bought-leaf factories. The same crop, in the same country, under two structures that give a buyer completely different things.
How firm this is: Inferred by TeaHQ from general knowledge of the trade rather than taken from a source that states it.
What it produces
Predominantly CTC black tea for domestic consumption, from estates in the north-east and a growing smallholder sector in the northern plains.
How firm this is: Inferred by TeaHQ from general knowledge of the trade rather than taken from a source that states it. Domestic consumption absorbing most of the crop is consistently reported; exact export shares vary by year and are not recorded here.
What it is known for
The categories this country is most associated with. Being known for a category is a fact about reputation and volume rather than about quality.
- Black tea — Tea taken deliberately through full enzymatic oxidation, giving the dark leaf, amber-to-red liquor and malty or brisk character most Western drinkers think of as simply 'tea'.
Growing regions in Bangladesh
Named districts with their own elevation, climate and character. Elevation figures are recorded as ranges because sources disagree on where a district begins and ends.
How its tea is graded
Uses the CTC granule grades and orthodox leaf grades common to the subcontinent, sold through a national auction rather than under garden names.
Grading conventions do not translate between countries. The same abbreviation can describe leaf size in one origin and picking standard in another, and TeaHQ records each system on its own terms rather than mapping them onto a common scale.
Teas from Bangladesh
Sources
- TeaHQ editorial synthesis — TeaHQ
Everything on this page is TeaHQ’s own synthesis of widely-attested trade and production background. No external document stands behind it, which is why the statements here describe practice rather than assert measurements.