The European Union (EU) expects olive oil consumption to increase in non-producing countries and production among its members to steadily increase by around 1.1% or 400,000 tonnes over the next decade, according to the Agricultural Outlook Report for 2019-2030 .
The increase in production was attributed to the shift from traditional to super intensive olive groves in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the modernization of irrigation systems and the improvement of the agronomic conditions of the trees, said the Olive Oil Times on December 26th.
Most of the growth would occur in Portugal, which could become the world's third-largest olive oil producer by 2030.
The Outlook report, published in December, said changing eating habits and younger generations' concern about health and the environment were two of the reasons behind the expected growth in consumption.
Overall, olive oil consumption in non-producing EU countries should increase by eight percentage points. Non-producing countries would represent 32% of total consumption in the trading bloc.
“Along with increased consumption, the EU also anticipates that exports to the rest of the world will increase by 3.3%/year between 2019 and 2030,” wrote the Olive Oil Times .
The optimistic outlook was despite the uncertainty of future relations with the United Kingdom, one of the EU's biggest olive oil markets, which was due to begin leaving the EU on January 31.
There were also complications with relations with the US, which was considering whether to increase tariffs on Spanish olive oil imports or apply new tariffs on other EU olive oil imports as a result of a World Trade Organization ruling in favor of the US. EU subsidies to European aerospace company Airbus.
Source: OFI Magazine
