Global Market Report: Palm Oil

The global palm oil market is dominated by Indonesia and Malaysia, with demand driven by the food, personal care, and biofuel industries. While voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) like RSPO have seen significant growth, the sector continues to face critical challenges including deforestation, biodiversity loss, and human rights abuses. The report highlights the potential for expanding VSS-compliant production in Low Human Development Countries (LHDCs) such as Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria to improve livelihoods and mitigate environmental damage.

• Palm oil is the world's most consumed edible oil as of 2015, with the processed food industry accounting for approximately 72% of production, personal care and cleaning products 18%, and biofuels 10%.
• Production is heavily concentrated in Indonesia and Malaysia, which together provided 85–90% of total palm oil in 2016. About 40% of global production comes from 3 million smallholders who typically experience lower yields.
• Asia is the primary consumer of palm oil, representing two-thirds of global consumption. In contrast, the EU and US account for about 14%, with the EU consuming nearly 8 million tonnes in 2018 compared to over 1.5 million tonnes in the US.
• Palm oil production is linked to severe environmental and social issues, including the conversion of tropical forests and peatlands affecting nearly 200 threatened species, land-grabbing in Africa, and human rights abuses against plantation workers.
• Voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs) have grown rapidly, with VSS-compliant oil palm fruit accounting for at least 17% of total production in 2016. The RSPO, Rainforest Alliance, and Organic are the primary standards by production size.
• Low Human Development Countries (LHDCs) produced 5% of total global palm oil and 6% of VSS-compliant palm oil in 2016. Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria are identified as having the highest potential for expanding VSS-compliant production based on production share, VSS presence, and HDI values.

APA

Voora, V., Larrea, C., Bermudez, S., & Baliño, S. (2019). Global Market Report: Palm Oil. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ssi-global-market-report-palm-oil.pdf

Chicago

Voora, Vivek, Cristina Larrea, Steffany Bermudez, and Sofia Baliño. Global Market Report: Palm Oil. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2019. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ssi-global-market-report-palm-oil.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Voora |first1=Vivek |last2=Larrea |first2=Cristina |last3=Bermudez |first3=Steffany |last4=Baliño |first4=Sofia |title=Global Market Report: Palm Oil |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2019 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ssi-global-market-report-palm-oil.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{voora2019global, author = {Voora, Vivek and Larrea, Cristina and Bermudez, Steffany and Baliño, Sofia}, title = {{Global Market Report: Palm Oil}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2019}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/ssi-global-market-report-palm-oil.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }