Global Matcha Production Map: Interactive 2026 Guide

Where in the world is matcha produced?

Matcha-style powdered green tea is produced across at least eight countries in 2026. The two leading producers are Japan and China, with very different positioning: Japan dominates the ceremonial tier while China leads the broader culinary and ready-to-drink volume. Use the toggle below to switch between matcha-style production volume and ceremonial-grade share, and use the tier filter to focus on a single category.

Production data by country

How to read the map

The two views

Matcha-style volume (default): marker size reflects matcha production in tonnes, on the same basis for every country. Japan exported approximately 9,188 tonnes of matcha-led powdered tea in FY2025 (derived as 70% of 13,125 tonnes total green tea exports per Nation Thailand / Kyodo citing Japan's Ministry of Finance). China produced an estimated 12,000 tonnes of matcha in 2025, about 60 per cent of global output (Xinhua / CGTN / Global Times, June 2026; earlier estimate of ~5,000 t via Firsd Tea). Different metrics in the same ballpark: Japan's matcha-specific exports alone exceed China's total matcha production estimate.

Ceremonial-grade share: marker size reflects each country's estimated share of global ceremonial-grade matcha output. Japan accounts for approximately 99 percent based on our 2026 sourcing observations, since ceremonial-grade requires the full four-step Japanese production stack (shaded tencha, steam-fixed, deveined, stone-milled). China's matcha is mostly culinary and RTD tier. Other countries are at small or experimental scale.

The tier filter

• Ceremonial: shaded tencha, steam-fixed, deveined, stone-mill ground. Japan only at scale.
• Culinary / RTD volume: powdered green tea using general cultivars, minimal or no shading, pan-firing, ball-mill ground. Dominantly Chinese.
• Small-scale / experimental: under 100 tonnes annual matcha-style output. South Korea, Taiwan, India, US, Australia, New Zealand.

The latitude band

The faint horizontal band from 25°N to 40°N marks the temperate tea-growing belt where most of the world's matcha-grade tea is produced. Within that band, only Japan has built the full four-step production stack that defines ceremonial-grade matcha.

Why the geography matters

For buyers, the global map is a check against vague origin labels. "Product of Japan" can mean tencha from any of six prefectures with measurably different taste signatures. "Matcha" with no country listed often means Chinese-sourced powdered green tea repackaged as a "ceremonial" tier product at a price point well below the structural cost of genuine Japanese tencha. The strongest origin signal stack is prefecture + cultivar + harvest year + named producer.

For the deeper story behind why ceremonial-grade production has stayed concentrated in Japan, see our Japan vs China matcha production deep dive and the broader global matcha production article. For the trade-data context behind the 2026 export surge, see Japan green tea exports FY2025 and the contrarian newsjack on whether the boom is plateauing in is the matcha boom slowing down.

Sources and methodology

• Firsd Tea, Global Matcha Production and Export Status (August 2025) for China's earlier ~5,000-tonne matcha production estimate, now superseded (citing CCTV.com) and corroborating Japan CY2024 matcha export data of 5,092 tonnes (sidecar reference; the page uses the more recent FY2025 figure as primary).
• Firsd Tea, 2024 China Tea Report for China's total tea production and export volumes via China Customs.
• Nation Thailand / Kyodo for Japan FY2025 green tea export data of 13,125 tonnes, +42% YoY (Ministry of Finance customs statistics).
• Green Japan Tea Association for Japanese tea-growing regions overview.
• Tea Board of India for India's 1,284,780-tonne total tea production figure for 2024.
• Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, 2025 Global Tea Report for the 3.74M-tonne China total tea production figure via the International Tea Committee.
• Tezumi Insights for the four-step Japanese production stack definition.
• Matcha Direct Kyoto for the tencha cultivar registry.
• Naoki Matcha for steam fixing and stone-mill grinding details.
• FAO global tea overview for international tea production context.
• My Japanese Green Tea for production process and Korean / Taiwan tea context.

Data caveats: (0) Japan's 9,188-tonne matcha figure is derived as 70% of the 13,125-tonne FY2025 green tea export total (where powdered tea is roughly 70% of volume per the Nation Thailand / Kyodo report). The 5,092-tonne CY2024 Firsd Tea figure is matcha EXPORTS, not production, and is kept only as context; sizing on it would repeat the category error this page previously made. (1) China matcha export data does not exist as a standalone HS code, so China is shown on production, not exports. Updated 2026-08-09 from ~5,000 t (CCTV via Firsd Tea, Aug 2025, MEDIUM confidence) to ~12,000 t, about 60 per cent of global output, per Xinhua, CGTN and Global Times, June 2026. The earlier pairing was internally inconsistent: 5,000 t could not be 60 per cent of a world in which Japan alone made over 5,000 t. (2) South Korea and Taiwan do not publish national matcha-specific tonnage; figures shown are total tea production. (3) US, Australia, and New Zealand operations are single-farm scale; figures are best-effort estimates from trade press. (4) Ceremonial-grade share figures are based on One With Tea 2026 sourcing observations across Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, US, and Australian supply chains. Map geometry derived from a Wikipedia low-resolution world map (Creative Commons) and re-styled for One With Tea using brand color tokens with dark-mode-compatible currentColor for all annotations.