Vegetable oil production in Pakistan has increased by 30%, but the country is dependent on imports

Pakistan increased its vegetable oil production by 30% in MY 2025/26 to 550,000 tonnes from 474,000 tonnes a year earlier. Production of major oilseeds also rose to 2.67 million tonnes, with the area under them increasing to 6.63 million acres. The main factor behind this result was not the expansion of crops but higher yields, primarily of rapeseed and mustard, which farmers are increasingly switching to.

Rapeseed and mustard contributed the most to the growth. The area under these crops increased from 1.05 to 1.21 million acres, seed production from 469 thousand tons to 614 thousand tons, and oil production from 178 thousand tons to 233 thousand tons. Sunflower and canola also showed positive dynamics, which allowed diversifying the domestic production of vegetable oils.

Despite the successes, cottonseed remains the largest source of local oil – in the reporting year it provided 216 thousand tons of products. At the same time, its share in total production has decreased to 40% due to a decrease in cotton plantings and harvests in recent years.

Experts note that the growth rate of production is significantly outpacing the expansion of sown areas, which indicates an increase in the efficiency of growing oilseeds. At the same time, the government is considering the development of rapeseed, mustard, sunflower and canola as one of the key areas to reduce the country’s dependence on imported vegetable oil.

Despite increasing domestic production, Pakistan continues to meet about 90% of its domestic demand for vegetable oil through imports. This indicates significant potential for further development of the industry, as consumption growth is currently outpacing the pace of increase in local production.

Tags: Pakistan, edible oils