The 3 Countries That Supply The Most Olive Oil In The World

Olive oil is having a moment in the U.S. Access to good olive oil brands in grocery stores has skyrocketed. According to Olive Oil Times, Americans are now the world's second-largest consumers of the oil, taking silver from Spain. We drizzle, dip, and sizzle our way through 375,000 tons of the stuff annually. By 2030, the U.S. is slated to be the world's biggest olive oil consumer. Despite loving olive oil, however, we don't make a lot of it. Within America, most domestic olive oil is grown and processed in California, although Arizona, Florida, Oregon, and Texas all produce award-winning olive oil of their own. The industry is maturing, but despite recent record years, U.S. brands only produce about 15,000 tons of olive oil annually, per data from the World Population Review. So, who's growing the rest?

While olive production by country varies year to year, the latest data (aggregated by WPR) highlights a clear top three. Spain, Italy, and Turkey are the world's largest producers of the oil, with Tunisia and Greece nipping at their heels in third and fourth place, respectively. While olive cultivation has deep roots in all of these countries, today's top olive oil producers are also adapting to changing times, combating climate issues, prying open new markets, and producing new or revived products for ambitious international palates.

Olive oil has been grown in Spain for thousands of years, with warm summers, cool winters, and varied terrain providing the conditions for many olive varietals to thrive. It's not surprising, then, that Spain has long been the world's leading olive oil producer. In ancient Rome, the empire's most valued olive oil came from what is now Andalusia, while in the here and now, Spain produces more olive oil than any other country.

Spanish growers and millers produced upwards of 766,000 tons of oil in 2023-24. This was more than twice the oil produced by runners-up, Italy, in the same year, but a big drop from 2021-22, when Spain produced 1,491,000 tons of olive oil. This steep drop-off in Spanish olive oil availability was caused by a huge drought. Climate change is threatening olive oil production worldwide, and in Spain, where growing and milling olives help drive the economy, the threat feels stark.

Spanish olive oil producers aren't giving up. Instead, the dry mountains of Andalusia are becoming a testing ground for sustainable growing practices and water management that might well lead to a new, more modern olive-growing culture internationally. Spanish olive growers are at the vanguard of a changing industry. They have a lot to fight for, with 32 Protected Designations of Origin distributed through the country, each promising high-quality and unique olive oil. From the smooth and sweet oil pressed from arbequina olives that thrive in the cool of Catalonia to the warm and dry Castilla-La Mancha region and its spicy, bitter cornicabra olive oil, it's clear that Spanish olive oil is as special now as the Romans believed it was over 2,000 years ago.

There's probably no cuisine more connected to olive oil in our collective imaginations than Italian. According to Statista, U.S. consumption of olive oil has doubled since the turn of the millennium, but EVOO was a staple in Italian-American kitchens and restaurants long before the rest of the country got a taste for it. Back in the motherland, olive oil is a huge part of the day-to-day diet of Italians. From the coastal Mediterranean diet to hearty pizza and simple pasta dishes, Italian olive oil is knitted into the culture of the country.

Despite the ingredient's importance, Italy lags behind its neighbor, Spain, in olive oil production. What it lacks in volume, however, the EU's second-biggest olive oil producer makes up for in quality; after a great growing year, Italy was the most awarded country at the 2025 World Olive Oil Competition. This was no fluke of the weather, either. It was the tenth year in a row that Italy took home the most World Olive Oil golds.

Italian olive oil differs from Spanish olive oil in both color and flavor. It has a greener color and a grassy, zingy taste. The oil produced in Italy ranges from cold-pressed extra virgin to refined lampante, but the country's most notable export is probably high-quality EVOO from specific regions and olive varietals. Lake Garda olive oil, for example, is prized around the world. Milled from Casaliva olives grown in the cool microclimate around the lake, this amber-green olive oil is rich and herbaceous with a lightness that makes it suitable for Mediterranean seafood dishes and delicate salads.

Despite some poor harvests due to climate change, data from Index Mundi shows that Turkish oil production has been trending upwards since the early 2000s. In 2023-24, Turkey produced 210,000 tons of olive oil, earning the number three spot worldwide. Beyond annual harvests, EVOO enthusiasts owe Turkish olive farmers a debt of gratitude. As the gateway between Europe and the Levant, it's theorized that olive trees spread west through Anatolia in modern Turkey and into Southern Europe, introducing olive oil to the Western Mediterranean.

On top of milling and exporting olive oil, the Olive Oil Times notes that Turkey exports around 100,000 tons of table olives every year. Unsurprisingly, both olives and olive oil are a big part of Turkish cuisine. In fact, there's a whole category of dishes in Turkey called "zeytinyağlılar" which means it's made with olive oil. Some of these delicacies are cooked in the mixed EVOO and refined oil that Turkish cooks call Riviera, while others are finished with quality cold-pressed EVOO. Foodies will recognize many of them, like stuffed vine leaves and grilled and roasted veggies, as mezze platter staples.

Although Turkey is fighting the same effects of climate change as Italy and Spain, significant recent investment in Turkish olive oil production means the country is one to watch for olive oil lovers. Not only are Turkish EVOO brands determined to break into new markets, they're also producing exciting, high-quality olive oils from native olive monovarietals that aren't found anywhere else.