Indonesia's Palm Oil Producing Area is the Largest in the World

Indonesia has the world's largest area of palm oil (CPO) producing land. According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the area of mature Indonesian palm oil plantations was estimated at 11.75 million hectares in 2019, representing 49.5% of the global total of 23.74 million hectares. Unfortunately, this vast area of palm oil plantations is accompanied by annual deforestation caused by forest and land clearing and fires.

Indonesia's area of mature palm oil plantations is double that of Malaysia, which has only 5.3 million hectares, or about 23% of the global total. As is known, Malaysia has the second largest area of palm oil plantations after Indonesia, followed by Nigeria with 2.5 million hectares in third place.

(Read Databoks: Where are the largest palm oil plantations in Indonesia?)

Meanwhile, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, the total area of palm oil plantations in 2019 was estimated at 14.68 million hectares, with 11.58 million hectares being mature producing areas. Production was targeted at 42.87 million tons, with a productivity of 3,702 kg per hectare.