Price of olive oil in the USA

Spanish olive oil is now worth more than Italian

For the first time, in 2024 figures, the Iberian overtaking is both in value and quantity. Indeed, as the US Department of Commerce Census Bureau points out, Americans paid more for our liquid gold than for Italian gold. Specifically, the average price of olive oils from Spain imported between January and June 2024 was 8.81 euros per kilo, compared to 8.62 euros for those from Italy.

A century of leadership erased

Let us remember that since the end of the 19th century the Italian-American community introduced olive oil to the United States, a market that has since been traditionally dominated by Italian oil.

Over the decades, and with the increase in oil production in Spain, the latter took the lead in the quantities sold, but the appreciation Consumers’ preference for Italian olive oil remained unchanged, while the price remained consistently higher.

Specifically, around 2014, Spanish olive oils reached this market at a price approximately 25% lower than that of Italian oils. In years such as 2019, this gap exceeded 30%. However, in 2023 the price gap narrowed to just over 7% and was reversed in 2024 when Spanish olive oils were sold at a price more than 2% higher than Italian oils.

A market in continuous growth

According to observers, the American market will continue to grow in the medium term with more than 400,000 tons of imported olive oil, surpassing Italy and Spain in terms of consumption. The increase in the price of extra virgin olive oil has not affected this market, which has resisted, like few others, the increases caused by the fall in production in the last two campaigns.

Comparing the first half of 2023 with that of this year, from January to June 2024 Spain exported 20.50% more olive oil to the United States, reaching 70,000 tons (35,000 more than Italy) and thus exceeding 35% of the US total. And the higher price allowed Spain to record a record turnover of 611 million euros, 105% more than a year ago. In fact, these magnificent figures are the result of the promotional work that the sector has been carrying out in this country for several decades.