Pakistan Olive Oil Production Reaches 716 Tons as More Than 7.6 Million Trees Spread Across 60,000 Acres

LAHORE: Pakistan olive oil is no longer a pilot project. In 2016 the country produced just 19 kilograms of it. A decade on, a government survey puts production at nearly 716 tons in 2026, with olive fruit estimated at 7,412 tons — small beside the world’s big producers, but a different world from where Pakistan started.

Where the groves have spread

The survey counts 7.64 million olive plants across 60,456 acres in 131 districts. Balochistan holds the largest share — 3.20 million plants over 24,620 acres in 31 districts — followed by Punjab with 2.24 million and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 1.66 million, with further plantings in Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Sindh and Islamabad. Under the national olive policy, the targets for 2030 are 100,000 acres and 10 million trees.

The bottleneck is the shelf, not the field

Output is rising, yet a bottle of local olive oil is still hard to find in a shop. Awais Khan, chief executive of the National Alliance for Safe Food, says the primary bottleneck is branding, packaging and marketing: most farmers are not equipped for that side of the business, and corporate involvement has not arrived yet. The ‘PakOlive’ certification mark is meant to help — only oils that pass strict quality checks may carry it. If the chain from grove to shelf ever joins up, the prize is twofold: better incomes in the olive districts, and a small dent in the edible-oil import bill Pakistan pays every year.