Overall data on the sector

LAND USED TO GROW OLIVE TREES. According to data from the International Olive Council (IOC), there are around 850 million olive trees on earth, which cover more than 10 million hectares of land. Of these, more than a million hectares are used to produce table olives. Total production of olives exceeds 18 million tons a year, of which 90% are used to make oil and 10% processed into table olives.

According to a survey on land surface and yield (Esyrce), Spain has 2,513,400 hectares of olive trees, of which 90,800 (3.75%) are used for table olives. A total of 77% of the latter is located in Andalucia, followed by the Extremadura region with 22%.

PRODUCTION. By far, Spain is the world’s top producer of table olives. The IOC says average world production over the past five seasons was 1,767,100 tons, with Spain accounting for 518,600 of them, which is approximately 30% of the total. Far behind Spain are Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Greece, Morocco, the United States, Argentina, Algeria and Italy.

Spain is the world leader in production. The net figure for the last campaign, that of 2007/2008, was 556,160 tons, according to the Olive Oil Agency (AAO in Spanish). Industries located in Andalucia accounted for 437,083 tons, which is equivalent to 79% of total Spanish production. The provinces with the highest production were Seville with 325,607, Cordoba with 58,738 and Malaga with 46,066. Industries based in Extremadura produced 107,773 tons, or 19% of the national total, with Badajoz province turning out 59,336 and Caceres 48,437.

NUMBER OF COMPANIES. According to AAO data, 421 companies took part in the processing of olives in the 2007/2008 season, with the following geographic distribution: Andalucia 54.6%, Extremadura 20.4% and Aragon 9%. By provinces, it was Seville with 151, Badajoz 63, Cordoba 33, Malaga 31, Teruel 26, Caceres 23, Zaragoza 12 and Tarragona 11.

According to AAO figures, the 2007/2008 season saw 224 packaging companies take part, with the following geographical distribution: Andalucia 47.3%, Extremadura 13.8% and Aragon 10,7%. By provinces it was Seville 53, Badajoz 22, Malaga 18, Cordoba 13, Jaen 10, Caceres 9 and Tarragona 9.

A KEY SECTOR. The table olive sector is a key part of the overall Spanish food industry, because of the number of jobs it creates and its production and export volume, in both of which Spain is the world leader. Table olives account for 22% of the sector activity nationwide, contributing around 1,000 million euros. This part of the industry creates 7,500 jobs directly, more than 6 million days of work for laborers in harvesting the olives and growing the trees, in addition to jobs at auxiliary companies and industries: glass, tin, cardboard, machinery, transport, etc. Table olives account for 27% of the jobs created nationwide in the canning and prepared agricultural foodstuffs industry, and represent 22% of the revenue from it.

CONSUMPTION IN SPAIN. According to food consumption data from the Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Maritime Affairs, approximately 40% of Spain’s production is sold in the country itself, where eating olives is a long-standing tradition, as it is in other Mediterranean countries. Spain’s consumption in 2006 totaled 145,970 tons, of which more than 76% corresponded to homes, and more than 22% to bars and restaurants. The rest was institutional consumption.

As of 2007, we only have data on olive consumption in homes, which was 108,640 tons. Bulk sales have dropped off significantly in recent years, accounting for 24.6% of the total in 2006.

Per capita table olive consumption has fallen for the past three years, and totaled 2.43 kilos/inhabitant in 2007. In terms of money, in 2007 Spanish families consumed 295.26 million euros’ worth of table olives, up 0.4% from 2006 and 14% from 2005.

By category of sales outlet, in 2006 Spanish families bought 48.3% of their table olives in supermarkets, 21.8% in traditional shops, 16.3% in superstores, 5.2% in open-air markets and 5% was people eating olives they had grown themselves.

INTERNATIONAL CONSUMPTION. IOC data show that world consumption of table olives in the 2007-2008 season was 1,880,500 tons in net, drained weight. Of that amount, by regions, the European Union accounted for 32.96%, Arab countries 28.77%, Other Nations 15.27%, US/Puerto Rico/Canada 13.45%, Central/South America 5.82% and Eastern Europe 3.72%. By country, the world’s largest consumers of table olives were Spain, the United States, Egypt, Turkey, Italy, Syria, Russia, Algeria, Brazil, Germany, Iran, Morocco, Jordan, Britain and Canada.

EXPORTS. Spain is by far the world’s top exporter of table olives. According to ASEMESA data, Spanish exports – including to the countries of the EU – totaled 252,322 metric tons, worth 583.213 million euros. That is more than 30% of total world exports of this product. Spain is followed at a great distance by Turkey, Argentina, Morocco and Greece.

Spanish olives are leaders in the world’s main markets. By weight, in 2007 Spain sent 40% of its exports to the European Union, 30% to the US, Puerto Rico and Canada, 17% to Eastern Europe, 5% to Arab countries, 3.5% to Central and South America and 4.5% to the rest of the world.

By countries, Spain exports table olives to more than 120 countries. The main ones are the United States with 25% of the Spanish total, Russia with 11%, Italy with 10%, France with 8%, Germany with 6.5%, Portugal, Saudi Arabia and Britain with 3.5%, etc.

The following section, based on data from ASEMESA for the year 2007, gives a breakdown of Spanish table olive exports by Variety, Serving Style, Class and Format.