Tunisian exports of olive oil jumped almost 40% in volume during the first ten months of the 2024/2025 campaign. However, foreign exchange revenues fell by around 30%, a direct consequence of prices on the international market. This paradox, noted by the National Observatory of Agriculture (ONAGRI), is part of a continuous trend observed for several months.
According to the ONAGRI, Tunisia exported 252.7 thousand tonnes of olive oil between November 2024 and August 2025, against 181.3 thousand tonnes at the same period in the previous campaign, an increase of +39.4%. But at the same time, the value of exports fell to 3,386.3 MD, against 4804.8 MD a year earlier, a drop of -29.5%. The average price dropped by more than 50% in August 2025, going from 17.22 D/kg to 7.57 D/kg depending on the categories.
Markets dominated by Europe and Italy
The export structure partly explains this dropout: 85.3% of volumes are exported in bulk, while the packaged oil represents only 14.7%. However, the packaged generates more added value, but remains marginal. The same trend is observed in the biological segment: out of almost 49 thousand tonnes exported, only 6.1% were packaged.
The European Union remains the first outlet (57.4%), followed by North America (27%). Italy alone absorbs 26.8%of the quantities, ahead of Spain (25.5%) and the United States (20.1%). For organic oil, dependence is even more marked: Italy concentrates more than 50% of imported volumes.
