Tea and mate consumption
Last updated: 10 November 2026
Kilograms per person of tea, including yerba mate, available for food in 2023. FAOSTAT calls this food supply; the game uses it as a proxy for consumption.
The measure is Tea and mate supply, in kg/yr per person, year 2023. The source note stored with the series says: FAOSTAT Food Balance Sheets, 2023: Tea (including mate), food supply quantity (kg/capita/yr). FAO flag E (estimated). The item includes yerba mate. A grower's high number is supply available for food, not a count of cups.
Eight high values in the series
| # | Country | kg/yr per person |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sri Lanka | 51.69 |
| 2 | Kenya | 34.78 |
| 3 | Argentina | 27.26 |
| 4 | Paraguay | 22.35 |
| 5 | Turkey | 19.98 |
| 6 | China | 10.82 |
| 7 | Rwanda | 10.45 |
| 8 | Vietnam | 10.41 |
Sri Lanka leads this table at 51.69 kg/yr per person. After that: Kenya at 34.78 (16.91 kg/yr per person under Sri Lanka); Argentina at 27.26 (7.52 kg/yr per person under Kenya); Paraguay at 22.35 (4.91 kg/yr per person under Argentina); Turkey at 19.98 (2.37 kg/yr per person under Paraguay); China at 10.82 (9.16 kg/yr per person under Turkey); Rwanda at 10.45 (0.37 kg/yr per person under China); Vietnam at 10.41 (0.04 kg/yr per person under Rwanda). Sri Lanka is 4.965 times Vietnam. That multiple is the top row divided by the bottom row of this same table.
Contrasts already written for Guess the number
Guess the number shows one country's real value and asks you to type another. These fact lines are the ones stored with the pairs. They are not a new claim.
Turkey is 19.98 and United Kingdom is 1.23. Britain is the tea country in the stereotype. Turkey's figure is the leaf that stays for people to drink, and tea is an all-day drink there. Morocco is 1.62 and France is 0.21. France barely keeps any tea. In Morocco, mint tea is the default drink, so the supply is several times higher. Ireland is 1.46 and United Kingdom is 1.23. Ireland's supply is higher than Britain's. The British cup is the famous one, not the larger account. United Kingdom is 1.23 and United States is 0.5. The UK is ahead of the US, and the gap is real, but it is not a different order of magnitude.
Sri Lanka and Kenya lead this top eight because they grow tea and the account is food supply, not cups drunk. Argentina and Paraguay are high because the FAO item includes yerba mate. Turkey is the drinking-country surprise against the United Kingdom, and that comparison is one of the stored Guess the number facts, not a second source. The play link opens the daily game. Guess the number draws pairs from these FAOSTAT rows. This page does not use any other tea list.
Link to the source: https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/FBS.