Tunisia is expected to achieve record olive oil production in the 2025/2026 campaign, with estimates ranging from 400,000 to 500,000 tons, leading to increased export potential. However, the sector faces challenges such as low export prices, financial scandals, and concerns about the impact on the international olive oil market.
Olive oil production in Tunisia appears to be heading for a new record in the 2025/2026 campaign.
According to some estimates, it is expected to yield between 400,000 and 500,000 tons, further increasing expectations for export potential. In the previous campaign, production fell short of 340,000 tons, according to figures from the International Olive Council (IOC), Olive Oil Times reports.
The Tunisian government is pushing for more bottled olive oil exports, as such products carry a higher market value.
However, the low export prices currently represent the main obstacle to the sector’s development and are a cause of growing unrest among farmers.
The National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI) reported a 40.1 percent increase in olive oil exports between November 2024 and April 2025. Still, those record figures produced a 28.9 percent drop in earnings, from approximately €1 billion to €715.5 million.
According to various sources, a substantial portion of the low-priced bulk sales of Tunisian olive oil during the 2024/2025 campaign was not driven by legitimate market dynamics. Those sources suggest that they could be the result of opaque financial operations that directly impacted the income of Tunisian growers.
TunisianMonitorOnline (Edditorial Staff)
