Tunisia faces a significant drop in its olive oil export recipes, despite a marked increase in exported volumes. According to the latest UNAGRI data, the revenues generated during the first six months of the 2024/2025 campaign (November 2024 – April 2025) fell by 28.9%, reaching 24442.4 million dinars (MD), compared to the same period in the previous campaign.
This decline is mainly explained by the fall in export prices, in particular in April 2025, where the average price of olive oil fell 48.9% compared to April 2024, oscillating between 7.1 and 18 dinars/kg according to the categories.
However, Tunisia recorded an increase of 40.1% of the quantities exported, reaching 180,200 tonnes at the end of April 2025. But this dynamic is dominated by bulk exports, which represent 88.1% of volumes, compared to only 11.9% for conditioned oil. This imbalance directly impacts the added value of exports, since only 17.7% of the revenues come from conditioned oil sales.
The European market absorbs the majority of volumes (59.5%), ahead of North America (24.9%) and Africa (9.6%). Italy remains the first importer (29%of volumes), followed by Spain (26%) and the United States (19.6%).
Regarding organic olive oil, exports reached 34,300 tonnes, for a value of 469.1 MD. Again, the essential is exported in bulk: only 5% of the volume is conditioned. The average price was 13.68 DT/kg, with a gap between bulk oil (13.47 DT/kg) and packaged oil (17.65 DT/kg).
In short, the high increase in exported volumes does not compensate for the fall in export prices, exacerbated by too low valuation of the product through the packaging, a key factor to maximize revenue and assert the Tunisian brand internationally.
