ONS: olive oil bucks food price inflation trend

"Olive oil has been something of a canary in the mine when it comes to food supplies and prices. Southern Europe has suffered two extremely hot summers in a row, as well as record temperatures through winter. The heat, drought and fires have been devastating for many farmers in the areas worst affected, and in Spain, Italy and Greece, that includes olive growers. 80% of the UK’s olive oil comes from the Mediterranean [1], and prices of olive oil in the UK have risen by a staggering 96%over the last two years, as harvests have suffered and supplies have become tight [2]. In 2023, we spent nearly £300m on olive oil from the region - around £50m more than in 2022, but to buy 9m kg less [3]. In Spain, prices have gone up so much that olive oil is currently one of the most shoplifted products from supermarkets. [4]

“We import around half the food we consume in the UK, and half of our food supplies are in areas particularly vulnerable to worsening climate impacts. If we want to secure our food supplies for the long-run, cutting emissions to net zero is the only solution to limiting even worse climate impacts into the future. And in the meantime, farmers producing our foods in many poorer and less climate resilient nations than Spain need our financial and technical help to adapt to those worsening impacts."