World edible oil production, at a glance
Three oils, three regions, and one giant buyer that grows almost none of it
~85%
Share of world palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia combined.
80.4 million tonnes
Record global palm oil output projected for 2025-26.
West Africa
Where the oil palm tree is actually native to, not Southeast Asia.
MPOB & GAPKI
Malaysia’s and Indonesia’s own palm-sector regulators.
Who Grows These Three Oils?
Palm Oil Dominates, Led by Indonesia and Malaysia
- Palm oil is the world’s most-produced and most-consumed vegetable oil. Global output hit a record 80.4 million tonnes in 2025-26.
- Indonesia is the largest producer, with output of about 47.5 million tonnes a year.
- Malaysia is the second-largest, with about 19.2 million tonnes. Together, the two countries supply roughly 85% of the world’s palm oil.
- The oil palm tree now grows mainly in Indonesia and Malaysia, but it is originally native to West Africa, not Southeast Asia.
Q1. True or False: Indonesia and Malaysia together supply roughly 85% of the world’s palm oil.
Q2. True or False: The oil palm tree is originally native to Southeast Asia.
Soybean and Sunflower, the Other Two Belts
- World soybean oil output is projected to grow to about 70.8 million tonnes in 2025-26, also a fresh record. China, the United States, Brazil, and Argentina are the leading producers.
- Global sunflower oil output stood at about 21.7 million tonnes in 2024-25. Russia and Ukraine are the world’s leading sunflower-oil producers, along with Argentina, Turkey, and Hungary.
- India does not lead in producing any of these three oils. It leads in buying them, as the world’s largest importer of vegetable oils. See Edible Oil Production in India for how much it buys and from where.
Q3. True or False: Russia and Ukraine are the world’s leading sunflower-oil producers.
Q4. True or False: India ranks among the world’s top producers of palm, soybean, and sunflower oil.
Where Does the Oil Go, and Why Does India Care?
Trade Routes and the Regulators Behind Them
- Indonesia and Malaysia export palm oil mainly to India, China, Pakistan, and the European Union.
- Argentina and Brazil export soybean oil mainly to India and China. Russia and Ukraine export sunflower oil mainly to India, the EU, China, and the Middle East.
- Malaysia’s palm sector is overseen by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). Indonesia’s industry body is GAPKI, the Indonesian Palm Oil Association.
- Palm oil and palm kernel oil both come from the same oil palm fruit, but palm oil comes from the pulp while palm kernel oil comes from the seed.
- The European Union and Canada are major producers of rapeseed (canola) oil, a category that overlaps with India’s own mustard-rapeseed crop, the focus of National Mission on Edible Oils – Oilseeds (NMEO-Oilseeds).
Policy Shocks and the War in the Sunflower Belt
- Indonesia uses an export levy and reference-price system on palm oil, adjusted to manage domestic supply and state revenue.
- Indonesia briefly banned palm oil exports in April-May 2022 to control a domestic cooking-oil shortage. The ban sent global and Indian prices sharply higher within weeks.
- Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine disrupted Black Sea shipping and cut sunflower-oil exports, pushing global buyers, including India, toward more palm and soybean oil.
- Despite that disruption, global vegetable-oil production kept growing. Palm and soybean oil led it to fresh records through 2025-26, and rising global supply helped ease international prices, feeding into India’s own May 2025 duty cut.
- Palm oil expansion in Indonesia and Malaysia has also been linked to tropical deforestation and peatland loss, which the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification scheme was created to address.
Think it through, before reading on. Indonesia alone supplies close to half the world’s palm oil, more than every other producer combined. If one country holds that much of global supply, what happens to prices everywhere else when that country changes its own export policy?
Show the explanation
With Indonesia supplying such a large share of a single commodity, its domestic decisions ripple straight through to buyers thousands of miles away. In April-May 2022, Indonesia briefly banned palm oil exports to manage a cooking-oil shortage at home. Because so little of the world’s supply comes from anywhere else, global and Indian prices jumped within weeks of the ban, even though the shortage itself was purely domestic. A country that dominates supply this heavily does not need to intend a global price shock. Its own internal policy choices cause one anyway.
Remember the trap. The oil palm tree is native to West Africa, not Southeast Asia, even though Indonesia and Malaysia now dominate its production. And India leads the world in buying edible oil, not in growing it.
Quick Q&A
Which two countries supply roughly 85% of the world’s palm oil?
Indonesia and Malaysia.
Where is the oil palm tree originally native to?
West Africa, not Southeast Asia.
Which two countries lead world sunflower-oil production?
Russia and Ukraine.
What is India’s role in world edible-oil trade?
The world’s largest importer, not a leading producer of any of the three oils.
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