Olive Oil Consumption in Spain Continues to Grow

Summary

In Spain, extra vir­gin olive oil con­sump­tion rose by over 13 per­cent in 2019, with Spaniards con­sum­ing more than 138 mil­lion liters, lead­ing to a per capita con­sump­tion of about three liters. Independent young peo­ple and retirees saw the largest increases in con­sump­tion, while inde­pen­dent adults were the only group to expe­ri­ence a decrease.

Extra vir­gin olive oil con­sump­tion in Spain grew by more than 13 per­cent from 2018 to 2019, accord­ing to a newly pub­lished report from the coun­try’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.

Spaniards con­sumed more than 138 mil­lion liters of extra vir­gin olive oil in 2019, putting per capita con­sump­tion at about three liters, up nearly half a liter com­pared with 2018.

Independent young peo­ple and retirees were the two demo­graphic groups that expe­ri­enced the largest increases in con­sump­tions, at 23.2 per­cent and 21.3 per­cent, respec­tively. Independent adults were the only demo­graphic group that expe­ri­enced a decrease in extra vir­gin olive oil con­sump­tion.

According to the report, extra vir­gin olive oil accounted for slightly more than 25 per­cent of the total vol­ume of edi­ble oils con­sumed in Spain in 2019.

Among the rea­sons for the increase in con­sump­tion are the per­sis­tently low olive oil prices in the coun­try. From 2018 to 2019, the aver­age price for a liter of extra vir­gin olive oil fell by nearly 17 per­cent.

The report also found that over­all olive oil con­sump­tion increased by 3.3 per­cent, reach­ing about 356 mil­lion liters.

In 2018, the min­istry reported that olive oil con­sump­tion grew by 3.5 per­cent, the largest such increase in a decade. The lat­est find­ings demon­strates that demand con­tin­ues to trend upward in the world’s largest pro­ducer and con­sumer of olive oil.

While the coun­try’s appetite for olive oil grows, the min­istry’s data showed that table olive con­sump­tion had expe­ri­enced a slight decrease in 2019, falling by nearly three per­cent to 112 mil­lion kilo­grams (247 mil­lion pounds).

• Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries