Reliable data on Australian production and consumption is difficult to obtain. The International Olive Council (IOC) publishes international tables on production, consumption, exports and imports. Analysis of this data alongside that provided by the Australian Olive Association and Australia’s largest producer, Boundary Bend Limited, suggests that the IOC figures overstate Australian consumption of olive oil by up to 30% in some years.

The Australian data in Table 1 extrapolated from the Boundary Bend 2013 Annual Report. The analysis shows that the IOC overstates Australian production with the result that Australian consumption is lower than generally stated by the IOC.

The Australian Olive Association in its industry snapshot for 2012 states ‘Australian apparent consumption of olive oil for the period 2005 to 2012 increased by 16%  to 51,7108 tonnes’, clearly a gross overstatement by approximately 37%.

 

Year

Boundary Bend Production

Australian Production

Exports IOC

Consumption Australian olive oil

Imports IOC

Total ConsumptionCalculated

Total Consumption IOC

Consumption Overstated

% Overstated

 

kg

kg

kg

kg

kg

kg

kg

kg

 

2009

6210

13800

6500

7300

36000

33300

37000

3700

11

2010

6458

11960

8000

3960

30000

33960

44000

10040

30

2011

8243

14720

6000

8720

34000

42720

44000

1280

3

2012

5506

9660

7000

2660

35000

37660

45500

7840

21

2013

11636

17112

8000

9112

35000

44112

42500

-1612

-4

Table 1. Australian Production and Consumption Analysis (Source: Boundary Bend Estate, International Olive Council)