Chaos in Greece as olive oil crisis threatens huge shortage

Weather conditions in Greece has caused a shortage in olive industry (Image: Getty)

Greece is suffering from an olive oil crisis as weather conditions across the Mediterranean have detroyed production. The climate impacts have become so severe that people are resulting to stealing olives.

Olives have been a staple for thousands of years in Greece as the trees thrive in dry climates. Greece is one of the world's top olive producers, using it to produce high-quality extra virgin oil. The country exports over $1 billion (approx. £729 million) worth of oil every year. However, climate impacts have left farmers struggling to prevent the trees from becoming too dry, as well as concerned about the growing risk of wildfires, which burned over 11,000 acres of olive orchards in 2024.

Michael Antonopoulous, head of the Agricultural Olive Oil Copperative of Kalamata, said: "The climate impacts were so intense that it almost destroyed all our production."

Those impacted "don't have the weapons to fight this problem," which has spiralled into thieves targetting olive oil distributors. Stories of the crimes have appeared in Facebook posts, and both local and international outlets. 

Some of the heists were large in scales, such as the 37 tons of olive oil stolen in drums from a mill in Halkidiki, to the north, which was worth more than $300,000 (around £218,000) to the local growers cooperative, reports Bloomberg.

Over in Crete, a group of thieves snuck into a man's house and stole more than 400 pounds of his personal olive supply. Just outside of Athens, farmers woke up to find that their olive trees were cut down during the night.

Modern Greeks largely rely on olive oil for cooking, more so than residents of any other country, with each Greek using around 5 gallons of olive oil a year for it. It also makes up a huge 25% of the country's agriculture and 7% of it's GDP.

The shortage has resulted in thieves stealing olives (Image: Getty)

Olive trees have thrived in the island of Evia and espite being a dry region they historically required little to no irrigation. However, according to the European Environment Agency, temperatures have risen roughly 1.2C from preindustral levels.

Present-day summer temperatrures are beginning to stress the plants more than they can handle, resulting in many farmers to rely on irrigation for the first time.

A local olive-growing priest named Christos, said that the 2021 wildfire burned about 80% of the olive groves on the island. During 2023-2024, another fire in the Evros region destroyed more than 130,000 olive trees.

The high temperatures during the winter is also huge issue for the industry, as the cold weather in January and February sends a signal for trees to enter their dormant period. A grower and yoga teacher named Killope Ziogou says that if the trees do not feel the winter, the growth cycle doesn't work properly.

Olive oil makes up 7% of Greece's GDP (Image: Getty)

Climate change has causes a shortage so severe that last yeat, Greece's right-wing government, which campaigned on closing the borders, have been accused of carrying out abuse against immigrants, fast-tracked a visa for undocumented workers to staff the groves. 

The shortage has caused a lot of concerns for Greeks, who see olives as more than a commodity but a national pride. Antonopoulos, of the Kalamata cooperative, says he’s far less concerned with thefts than he is with olive producers dropping out of the industry as a result of rising costs. "Many people are abandoning olives,"he says, and the fields are just "becoming forest."