COLOMBO, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's earnings from its lucrative tea exports hit the one-billion-U.S. dollar mark till September this year, data from the Forbes and Walker Tea Brokers showed here Friday.

Quoted in local media reports, statistics showed tea export volumes in the first nine months of this year increased by 4.15 percent to over 200 million kilograms compared to last year.

Iraq emerged as the leading tea importer of Celyon Tea followed by Turkey and Russia.

Other noteworthy markets were Libya, China, Azerbaijan, Syria and the UAE.

Sri Lanka's Ceylon tea exports was the fifth largest foreign exchange earner last year.