The Average production of Olive Oil in Syria for the past 10 years is 120,000 Metric Tonns/annum. Syria is always in the top 10 producers worldwide. It used to rank 4th worldwide, now it is 8th . Olive plantation in Syria is More than 600’000ha, with the number of olive trees exceeding 90mn trees.

Syria is known to historians as the cradle of civilization where ancient kingdoms thrived. Many historians think that the olive tree was first born and cultivated in ancient Phoenicia as early 3000 BC. This is backed by many vestiges from that era. From there olive tree cultivation spread to Cyprus and Anatolia in the 16th century BC. It then spread to the Greek isles between the 14 – 12 century BC. From the 11th to the 6th century BC, olive tree cultivation spread to Spain, Sicily, North Africa and mainland Italy. Later and with the expansion of the Roman empire, the cultivation of the tree and production of olive oil spread throughout the mediterranean basin and further.

In modern day Syria, the olive tree plantation is estimated to be more than 600,000ha (6,000 km2), with the number of olive trees exceeding 90mn trees. 

The distribution of olive trees in Syria is mainly divided into the following regions:

• Northern Syria where 56% of olive tree cultivation is divided between Aleppo and Idlib districts.
• 18.3% is in the interior region divided between Hums and Hama districts.
• 14% is in the southern districts of Daraa, Sweida and Al Qunayterah
• 11.2% is in the coastal districts of Tartous and Lattakia
• 0.5 % distributed all over the remaining districts.

For the Past 5 years Syria ranks 5th in Olive Oil production worldwide with average production around 120,000 Metric Tons.