Global oilseed production 2023/24, by type

In the 2023/2024 crop year, soybeans were the leading type of oilseed in the world. That year, just over 398 million metric tons of soybeans were forecast to be produced worldwide.

Vegetable oil production

Though soybeans are the most produced type of oilseed, the world’s leading vegetable oil is palm oil. In 2021/2022, about 73.83 million metric tons of palm oil was produced worldwide. In comparison, the production volume of soybean oil amounted to around 59.26 million metric tons in that year. Indonesia and Malaysia export the two largest volumes of palm oil of any country worldwide.

Consumption of vegetable oils in the United States

In the United States, soybean oil is the most consumed type of edible oil by volume. Canola oil came in second place, followed by palm oil. While soybean oil has been very popular in the United States for many years, palm oil was not widely consumed until after 2007. To put this in perspective, in 2000 only 175 thousand metric tons of palm oil were consumed in the United States. Seven years later this figure had increased to nearly one million metric tons.