Statistics indicate that tea was planted over an area of more than 20,000 hectares in Taiwan 1999, with over 2200 hectares of that in Chiayi County, making Chiayi the third largest tea-growing area in Taiwan, behind Nantou and Taipei counties.
根據一九九九年的統計，台灣茶種植總面積為兩萬多公頃，嘉義縣的種茶面積有兩千兩百多公頃，佔了十分之一強，面積僅次於南投縣、台北縣，為全台灣第三大種茶縣。