Industry's prospects for 2024

Olive oil production in Europe is expected to reach 1.5 million tons in 2024

The industry's prospects for this year are as follows: yields will recover from the historical lows of last year, but rising prices will hinder exports and consumption, prices will rise again, and consumption is expected to decrease by around 6%.

According to the European Commission's short-term agricultural outlook report, these conditions will significantly affect the consumption of olive oil in Europe. If the EU estimate is justified, production in the 2023/24 agricultural year will be 9% higher than the historical minimum of the previous season, when 1.384 million tons were produced. Between 2017/18 and 2021/22, the EU produced an average of 2.13 million tons of olive oil per year.

In addition to reducing production, the European Union is also facing a shortage of olive oil reserves. According to Brussels, the new harvest year started with only 307,000 tons. For comparison, the European Union started the previous year with 670,000 tons of olive oil.

It is expected that supplies to the EU will be partially supported by the import of 160,000 tons of olive oil, the volume of which is heavily dependent on Tunisia, where olive oil production is expected to recover.

Despite this, the European Union predicts that the olive oil market will remain tense, which will lead to an increase in prices even before the spring of this year.