Global Olive Oil Production and European Trade
Olive oil is a precious, ancient, and highly traded cooking input and agricultural derivate found throughout the world. Particularly throughout the Mediterranean, olive oil has for centuries played a key role in the region’s diet and economy. Today, olive oil is produced and consumed all around the world, but particularly throughout Europe. In 2016, the global trade of pure olive oil totaled US$7.6 billion, while the global trade of virgin olive oil totaled US$6.2 billion. Of these total amounts, Europe accounted for 87% or US$5.4 billion of all virgin olive oil exports, while also representing 87% or US$6.6 billion of pure olive oil export.
Global Olive Oil Production and European Trade
In the case of pure olive oil, the world’s largest exporter during 2016 was Spain, representing 47% or US$3.6 billion of global exports. Meanwhile, the world’s largest importer for pure olive oil during 2016 was Italy, accounting for 25% or US$1.9 billion of global imports. Simultaneously, in the case of virgin olive oil, Spain was also the world’s largest exporter in 2016, totaling 46% or US$2.85 billion of global exports. Likewise, the world’s largest importer of virgin olive oil was also Italy, representing 28% or US$1.8 billion of global imports.
As mentioned above, Spain, a mid-sized country located in southwestern Europe, is the world’s leading trader of olive oil. This is due to a variety of factors, including climate, geography, dietary preferences, history, and economics, amongst others. With a total territory of 505,370 square kilometers, Spain is larger than twice the size of Oregon. Geographically, the country is mainly dominated by a large central plateau and rugged hills as well as the Pyrenees mountain range along the northern border. Similarly, the country has a temperate climate, with hot summers and cold winters. Currently, Spain has a total population of approximately 49 million citizens, about 80% of which live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of Madrid with some 6.5 million inhabitants. Spain’s national annual gross domestic product (GDP) is US$1.8 billion (PPP) and the country has experienced positive economic growth upwards of 3.0% in recent years. The Spanish economy is divided into 3% agriculture, 23% manufacturing, and 74% services. Likewise, the agriculture industry utilizes about 54% of the national territory, while another 37% is forested.
In terms of natural resources, Spain has coal, lignite, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, uranium, tungsten, mercury, pyrites, gypsum, kaolin, potash, hydropower, and arable land. Within manufacturing, the national industry is focused on textiles, apparel, processed food, beverages, metals, chemicals, shipbuilding, automobiles, machinery, footwear, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment. Similarly, a large part of the Spanish economy is driven by tourism and the services industry. Meanwhile, the country’s agricultural industry has as main products grain, vegetables, olives, wine grapes, sugar beets, citrus, beef, pork, poultry, dairy products, and fish.