Let us take a brief look at the “Olive Oil Production” statistics from the early years of the Republic, particularly regarding the Aegean Economic Zone. Although these figures do not represent the entire country, they provide valuable insight into the development of olive oil production in Turkey.
Before World War II, Turkey’s annual olive oil production averaged around 40,000 tons. Toward the end of the war, this figure declined to approximately 25,000 tons, nearly returning to the levels seen in the early Republican period. However, over the following fifty years, production tripled, exceeding an average of 80,000 tons per year.
Turkey’s share in global olive oil production also saw significant changes: from 2.8% in the 1940s to 6.9% in the 1960s, stabilizing around 4–5% during the 1990s.
Between 1980 and 1998, the country’s average annual production stood at approximately 87,000 tons. Following Spain, Italy, and Greece, Turkey alternated between fourth and fifth place with Tunisia, ranking among the world’s leading olive oil producers.
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