PDO olive oil in Italy: a land of distinctive character
Italy has a secret weapon: no other country produces as many different types of olive oil as it does. But don’t be fooled by the idyllic image – the real issue here isn’t quantity, but the ability to turn a patchwork of terroirs into a profitable industry.
Plenty of labels, a rising value
The country has 50 olive oil designations (42 PDOs and 8 PGIs) — undoubtedly a European record. In 2024, this diverse range produced 16,190 tonnes of certified oil, with a retail value of 258 million euros in 2024, of which 102 million came from exports. That’s quite something.
Within the broader world of Italian agri-food geographical indications, however, olive oil accounts for just 2 per cent of both production and export value. The country’s cheese and cured meat sectors clearly have nothing to fear for the time being!
Behind these figures lies a very tangible economic reality: 25,223 operators, 2,360 processors and 106,441 jobs depend on this sector.
And amongst the 50 designations, two clearly dominate: Terra di Bari PDO and Toscano PGI alone account for over 56 per cent of the sector’s total value.
In other words, the remaining 48 designations share less than half the pie – a situation that feels rather familiar when compared to Spain and its three dominant PDOs.
Profile of an PDO farm
Olive-growing holdings with a protected designation of origin do not really resemble the national average.
Their utilised agricultural area stands at 23.5 hectares, which is higher than the national average. Above all, they show a strong preference for organic farming: 29.1 per cent of the farms are certified organic, compared with just 7.6 per cent on average nationwide.
These farms are also looking to the future: 22.9 per cent made innovative investments between 2018 and 2020, and 68.2 per cent run a complementary activity (agritourism, educational farms, social farming). As for the farmers themselves, they are generally younger, predominantly male, and better trained in agronomy than the average for the Italian agricultural sector. In short, the Italian olive-growing sector PDO has the profile of an industry looking to the future rather than that of a rigid tradition.
A tour of Italy, region by region
Tuscany remains the region with the highest value, at 187 million euros.
Sicily (€139 million, +27.8 per cent) and Puglia (€112 million, +57.3 per cent) are showing strong growth.
In terms of volume, the figures are more modest: Calabria (€32 million, +19.3 per cent), Liguria (€31 million, +29.3 per cent) and Umbria (€42 million, -2.4 per cent) round off this overview.
- 42 olive oils, including Alto Crotonese, Aprutino Pescarese, Brisighella, Bruzio, Canino, Cartoceto, Chianti Classico, Cilento, Collina di Brindisi, Colline di Romagna, Colline Pontine, Colline Salernitane, Colline Teatine, Dauno, Garda, Irpinia – Colline dell’Ufita, Laghi Lombardi, Lametia, Lucca, Molise, Monte Etna, Monti Iblei, Penisola Sorrentina, Pretuziano delle Colline Teramane, Ligurian Riviera, Sabina, Sardinia, Seggiano, Tergeste, Terre di Bari, Terre d’Otranto, Terre Aurunche, Terre di Siena, Terre Tarentine, Tuscia, Umbria, Val di Mazara, Valdemone, Valle del Belice, Valli Trapanesi, Veneto, Vulture
- 5 olives: Nocellara del Belice, Oliva Ascolana del Piceno, La Bella della Daunia (Bella di Cerignola), Oliva di Gaeta, Oliva Taggiasca