EUROPE: Spain is the biggest olive oil producer in the EU

Spain is by far the biggest olive producer in the EU, providing a majority (59.0 %) of total EU olive production. It produced 6 million tonnes of olives, but this was -8.2% lower than in 2016.

The latest results of the five-yearly EU orchard survey indicate that the area under olive trees in the EU accounted for about 4.6 million ha in 2017.

Eight EU Member States had olive tree areas that exceeded the 1,000 ha threshold for inclusion in the survey.

Spain (55%) and Italy (23%) accounted for over three-quarters of the total EU area under olive trees, followed by Greece (15%) and Portugal (7 %).

The four other olive-producing Member States covered by the survey (France, Croatia, Cyprus and Slovenia) together accounted for 1% of the EU total olive tree area. In Cyprus there were 10,790 ha of olive trees in 2017 down from 10,802 in 2012.

The EU is the largest producer of olive oil in the world, accounting for around two-thirds of global production.

Most of the world's production comes from southern Europe, North Africa and the Near East, as 95% of the olive trees in the world are cultivated in the Mediterranean region.

Olive trees are very resistant to drought, diseases and fire and are known for their longevity. Most of the EU's olive trees are old and nearly 2.5 million ha are planted with olive trees that are at least 50 years old.

The least densely planted olive groves (less than 140 trees per ha) covered almost half (46%) of the total area in 2017.

Another 48% was covered by plantations with 140 to 399 trees per ha, and the remaining 5% of the area was planted with a density of at least 400 trees per hectare.

In contrast, there was a sharp upturn (+30.4 %) in the level of production in Italy to 2.5 million tonnes in 2017. Nevertheless, olive production in Italy remains below pre-2014 levels.