Table Olive Production Continues Rise

An impres­sive increase of 211 per­cent in the global pro­duc­tion of table olives over a period of 30 crop years is the most strik­ing fig­ure in mar­ket sta­tis­tics released last month by the International Olive Council (IOC).

This per­cent­age trans­lates to a growth in vol­ume of more than three-fold from 950,000 tons in 1990/91 to an esti­mated 2,953,500 tons in the 2017/18 sea­son. The most dra­matic increases have been noted in Egypt, Turkey, Spain, Algeria, Greece, Argentina, Iran, and Morocco.

The esti­mated yield this year rep­re­sents an increase of 4 per­cent world­wide com­pared to the pre­vi­ous sea­son.

On the other hand, Europe should expect a decrease by 11 per­cent in its total pro­duc­tion of table olives due to the reduc­tion of the har­vest in Spain, which is likely to come in at 521,500 tons — 12 per­cent less than last year.

Other European pro­ducer coun­tries, how­ever, should count on a rise in pro­duc­tion with Greece and Italy look­ing for increases of 31 per­cent and 20 per­cent respec­tively.

Egypt and Turkey are head­ing to a record crop of 650,000 tons and 455,000 tons, trans­lat­ing to an increase of 30 per­cent and 14 per­cent respec­tively.

In the United States pro­duc­tion will go up by 9 per­cent, while in Mexico a sim­i­lar growth of 11 per­cent is pro­jected.

Argentina, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia will also achieve enhanced pro­duc­tion of table olives com­pared to the pre­vi­ous sea­son with the rest of the pro­ducer coun­tries remain­ing con­stant or sus­tain­ing a cut­back, like Syria by 47 per­cent and Peru by 1 per­cent.

At the same time, con­sump­tion of table olives grew by 186 per­cent over the 1990 – 2017 period, the IOC said.

Countries with increased pro­duc­tion, not sur­pris­ingly, also show an increased con­sump­tion: Egypt is tar­get­ing a con­sump­tion of 450,000 tons com­pared to 11,000 tons in 1990/91, Algeria 289,000 tons com­pared to 14,000 tons, and Turkey 355,000 tons com­pared to 110,000 tons. The European Union mem­ber states also saw their con­sump­tion grow­ing from 346,500 tons to 585,000 tons.

The IOC data also revealed that the European Union, Egypt, Turkey and the United States together account for 57 per­cent of global table olives con­sump­tion over the last five years.