Tunisia’s olive oil exports recorded strong growth during the first six months of the 2025/2026 campaign, driven by higher export volumes and revenues, despite a decline in export prices compared with the same period of the previous season.
According to data from the National Observatory of Agriculture in Tunisia, olive oil exports reached 295.4 thousand tonnes between November 2025 and April 2026, vs 180.2 thousand tonnes during the same period of the 2024/2025 campaign, a rise of 63.9 %.
The value of Tunisian olive oil exports amounted to 3.64 billion Tunisian dinars, i.e. 1.17 billion dollars, compared with 2.44 billion dinars, about 787 million dollars, during the same period of the previous season, thus recording a 49.2 % increase.
Data indicate that bulk olive oil, i.e., oil sold without closed packaging in commercially bottled or branded packaging, represented 87.5 % of total exported volumes, i.e. 258.4 thousand tonnes. Exports of packaged oil reached only 37 thousand tonnes, or 12.5 % of the total.
This share of packaged oil is nonetheless up compared with the previous season, when it stood at 11.9 %, indicating a limited improvement in exports of higher value-added products.
The average export price of Tunisian olive oil stood at 12.33 dinars per kilogram, i.e. 3.97 dollars, during the first six months of the current season, against 13.77 dinars per kilogram, about 4.44 dollars, during the same period of the previous season, a decrease of 8 %.
By category, average export prices ranged from 8.87 dinars per kilogram, i.e. 2.86 dollars, for “lampante” oil, considered the least qualitative among virgin olive oils, to 16.45 dinars per kilogram, about 5.31 dollars, for packaged oil.
Extra virgin olive oil accounted for 83.5 % of total exports, with a volume of 246.7 thousand tonnes and a value surpassing 3.15 billion Tunisian dinars, i.e. about 1.02 billion dollars.
Other oils accounted for 6.6 % of exports, followed by lampante oils at 6 %, then virgin oil at 3.8 %.
The European Union retained its position as the leading market for Tunisian olive oil, absorbing 56.5 % of total exported volumes.
Spain tops the importing countries, with 32.3 % of total exports, followed by Italy with 19.6 %, then the United States with 19 %. Saudi Arabia occupies fourth place, with a 4.9 % share.
Other major markets also include Canada, Egypt, Jordan, the United Kingdom and Turkey.
Regarding organic olive oil, Tunisian exports reached 37.9 thousand tonnes during the same period, for a value around 497.7 million dinars.
Bulk organic oil represented 94.3 % of total organic oil exports, versus only 5.7 % for bottled oil.
The average export price of organic olive oil stood at 13.12 dinars per kilogram, i.e. about 4.23 dollars. Italy led the importers of this category of oil, with a 38 % share, followed by the United States with 25 %, Spain with 24 % and France with 8 %.
These figures illustrate the continued solid performance of Tunisia’s olive oil sector, one of the country’s leading agricultural export sectors, despite price pressures seen in global markets during the current season.
