Olive Calories and Macros by Type
Here is the short answer: a typical table olive carries roughly 4 to 7 calories, and most of that comes from fat, not carbohydrate. Ten average olives land somewhere around 40 to 60 calories, give or take, depending on size and whether they have been stuffed or marinated in oil. The macronutrient story barely changes from one variety to the next: olives are a fat food, low in carbs, low in protein, and quietly high in sodium because of how they are cured. The number that varies most between a green Manzanilla and a black Kalamata is not the calories at all, it is the salt.
People expect big differences between colours and cultivars, and the truth is a little dull. A ripe black olive and an unripe green olive of the same size are nutritionally close cousins. Colour is mostly a matter of ripeness and curing, not calorie count. What actually moves the needle is the size of the fruit, the oil it soaks up, and the brine it sits in. For a fuller sense of how curing changes an olive, our olive curing guide walks through the methods that shape both flavour and salt content.
Calories and macros by olive type
The figures below are approximate, drawn from widely-accepted nutrition values for cured, drained olives. Real-world numbers shift with fruit size, cure and brand, so treat these as sensible ballpark ranges rather than precise readings. Sodium in particular swings a lot: a lightly cured olive can hold far less salt than a heavily brined one of the same variety.
| Olive type (per 100 g, drained) | Calories | Fat | Carbs | Protein | Sodium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Green olives, brined (e.g. Manzanilla) | ~145 kcal | ~15 g | ~4 g | ~1 g | ~1,550 mg |
| Black olives, ripe (e.g. Californian-style) | ~115 kcal | ~11 g | ~6 g | ~1 g | ~740 mg |
| Kalamata, brine-cured | ~180 kcal | ~18 g | ~5 g | ~1 g | ~1,500 mg |
| Oil-cured black (e.g. façon grecque / Beldi style) | ~330 kcal | ~35 g | ~9 g | ~2 g | ~2,500 mg |
| Stuffed green (pimento, garlic, etc.) | ~145 kcal | ~14 g | ~5 g | ~1 g | ~1,550 mg |
Two things jump out of that table. First, the oil-cured wrinkled olives are the calorie heavyweights, because the dry-salt-then-oil method concentrates the fruit and adds fat on top. If you are counting closely, a small handful of those is not the same as a small handful of watery brined greens. Second, the humble ripe black olive from a tin is genuinely lower in both calories and salt than most of its brine-cured relatives, which is why it is such a forgiving everyday choice.
What the numbers mean in practice
Per 100 g looks alarming until you remember that nobody eats 100 g of olives at a sitting. That is close to 30 or 40 olives. A realistic serving is five to ten olives, which puts you at roughly 25 to 65 calories and a fat load of two to six grams, almost all of it the heart-friendly monounsaturated kind that olive oil is famous for. In that light, olives are one of the better ways to add richness and savour to a plate without much of a calorie penalty.
The one figure worth watching is sodium. Curing is a salt process by design, and a generous serving of brined or oil-cured olives can deliver a meaningful chunk of a day’s sodium in a few bites. If you are keeping an eye on salt, rinsing olives under cold water before eating knocks the surface sodium down noticeably, and choosing lighter-cured or reduced-salt options helps too. None of this is medical advice, just the practical arithmetic of a salty food. If salt intake matters for you, it is worth a word with your GP or a dietitian.
A few honest caveats. Nutrition panels differ from brand to brand, and a marinated deli olive dripping in herbs and oil will read higher than the same olive drained plain. Stuffing changes little on calories but can nudge carbs up depending on the filling. And “black” versus “green” tells you about ripeness and curing, not origin: a Manzanilla, a Kalamata and a Beldi come from different traditions and different places, and the variety name is never a reliable stand-in for a single country of origin. To go deeper on individual cultivars, browse the olive varieties encyclopedia.
Olive calories and macros: common questions
How many calories are in one olive?
Roughly 4 to 7 calories for an average table olive. Larger olives, and oil-cured wrinkled ones, sit at the higher end; small pitted greens at the lower end.
Are black olives lower in calories than green olives?
Usually a little, yes. Ripe black olives tend to be marginally lower in calories and often lower in sodium than brine-cured green olives, but the gap is small. Curing method matters more than colour.
Why are olives high in fat but still considered healthy?
Because the fat is mostly monounsaturated, the same kind found in olive oil, which is a cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet. It comes packaged with fibre and antioxidants, and the calorie total per serving stays modest.
Do olives have a lot of salt?
They can. Salt is central to how olives are cured, so brined and oil-cured olives are naturally high in sodium. Rinsing before eating and choosing lighter cures both help if you are watching your intake.