Top 10 Countries with the Highest Palm Oil Consumption in the World

Indonesia is the world's largest consumer of palm oil (Crude Palm Oil/CPO). According to data from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), domestic palm oil consumption in 2019 is estimated to have reached 12.75 million tons, or approximately 17% of total global consumption of 74.48 million tons. This figure represents a 1% increase compared to the previous year's 12.63 million tons. Increased consumption of cooking oil by the public and the B20 mandate (diesel fuel with a 20% palm oil content) have driven the increase in national CPO consumption.

Meanwhile, India is the second largest consumer of palm oil, reaching 10.19 million tons or 13.68% of total global consumption. For information, India is also the world's largest importer of palm oil, estimated at 10 million tons this year. China is the third largest importer of palm oil, at 7.22 million tons, or about 9.7% of the total.

As is known, Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil. Based on USDA data, Indonesian CPO production reached 41.5 million tons in 2018 and is projected to increase to 43 million tons in 2019. This production increase is in line with the expansion of palm oil plantations in the country to approximately 14 million hectares in 2018 (provisional figure). However, this increase in land area has been accompanied by deforestation and frequent forest fires around palm oil plantations.