Indonesia accounted for 57% of this (41 million tonnes), and Malaysia produced 27% (20 million tonnes).84% of global palm oil production comes from Indonesia and Malaysia. In the chart we see the production of the palm oil plant across a number of countries. Other producers include Thailand, Colombia, Nigeria, Guatemala, and Ecuador.
How many hectares does palm oil produce?
The world devotes more than 300 million hectares for oilcrop production. Palm oil accounts for 6% of this land use, which is small when we consider that it produces 36% of the oil. Is palm oil responsible for deforestation? Land use to grow palm has more than quadrupled since 1980. But has this expansion came at the expense of tropical forest?
Can palm oil save the environment?
In fact, because we can produce up to 20 times as much oil per hectare from palm versus the alternatives, it has probably spared a lot of environmental impacts from elsewhere. Palm oil production has increased rapidly over the past 50 years. In 1970, the world was producing only 2 million tonnes.
Does palm oil take up a lot of land?
On the left we have each crop’s share of global land use for vegetable oils; on the right we have its share of production. We know from our yield comparison that palm oil achieves a much higher yield. What this means is that it accounts for a very high share of oil production without taking up much land.