Spanish Olive Oil Exports Top a Million Tons as Prices Fall
The recovery was real, and fast. By the middle of 2025 Spain was once again awash in oil — exporting more than a million tonnes and dragging world prices back down to earth.
What happened
After favourable spring rains and a rebound harvest, Spain’s olive-oil exports topped one million tonnes while prices fell sharply — in places more than 50% down year on year at the farm gate. The two-year shortage was firmly over.
Why it matters
For shoppers, blessed relief: real extra virgin became affordable again. But it’s the same coin’s other side as the shortage — prices fell so far, so fast, that many growers were left unable to cover their costs. The market had swung from one extreme to the other in barely a year.
Cheap oil feels like a win — but ruinously low farm-gate prices are how groves get abandoned and the next shortage is sown. The healthiest outcome for everyone isn’t the cheapest possible oil; it’s a fair, stable price that lets honest growers keep going and keeps real oil flowing. Boom and bust serves no one for long.
Source, 2025: Olive Oil Times.