BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 2. Azerbaijan produced 1,540 tons of tea from January through February 2025.
Data obtained by Trend from the country's State Statistical Committee indicates that this figure decreased by 21.7 percent (427 tons) compared to the same period of 2024 (1,960 tons).
During the mentioned period, Azerbaijan exported 123 tons of tea worth $1.1 million. The tea exports grew by 24 tons (24.2 percent) in quantity and by $190,000 or 20.8 percent in value compared to the same period last year (99 tons of tea worth $915,000).
Additionally, in the first two months of this year, the country imported 3,050 tons of tea worth $18.6 million, marking an increase of 1,280 tons or 72.9 percent in quantity and $9.7 million or 2.1 times in value compared to the same period last year (1,760 tons of tea worth $8.9 million).
To note, during the mentioned period of this year, tea imports accounted for 0.45 percent of total imports, while tea exports accounted for 0.02 percent of total exports.
Azerbaijan began commercially growing tea bushes in 1912, but Soviet rule made it profitable in the 1930s. Moscow specialists sampled the nation's Lankaran soil in 1934. They evaluated samples and discovered Lankaran to be a productive tea-growing region. Since then, Lankaran and nearby tea factories have operated. Lankaran became Azerbaijan's largest rice, tea, citrus, and vegetable producer.