Smallholder Oil Palm Plantations Show Fastest Growth

The increasing domestic demand for vegetable oil and the significant export potential of crude palm oil (CPO) have driven the growth of palm oil plantations in Indonesia. In 1980, the area of palm oil plantations was only 295,000 hectares, but by 2018 it had reached 14.68 million hectares, an increase of more than 4,000 times.

Smallholder palm oil plantations experienced the fastest growth, increasing by more than 94.02% between 1980 and 2019, or an average of 2.41% per year. Large private plantations control the largest area of palm oil land, more than 8,000 hectares, representing approximately 55% of the total. The area of land under large private palm oil plantations grew by more than 4,700%, or 122% per year. Meanwhile, state-owned large plantations only increased by 218% over the last four decades, or about 5.5% per year.

The largest area of palm oil plantations is located in Sumatra, reaching 8.3 million hectares, or more than half of Indonesia's total palm oil land. Of this amount, 2.7 million hectares are located in Riau Province.

(Read Databoks: 54% of Palm Oil Area Controlled by Private Sector)