TEHRAN, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Iran exported 16,326 tons of tea worth 19 million U.S. dollars to 37 countries in the last Iranian year from March 2018-2019, Eghtesadonline reported on Sunday.

The figures registered a 11.4-percent rise in weight and 2.3-percent rise in value compared with the previous year.

The main importers were India, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Canada, Australia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

About 200,000 people in Iran have been directly employed in the tea industry. There are 178 related factories across the country.

Tea is cultivated in Iran's northern provinces of Gilan and Mazandaran, where 50,000 families earn their livelihood from tea farming on more than 25,000 hectares.