Olive oil use has dropped in the last few years, as wage reduction has caused consumers to cut spending even on basic food items, says a survey by Infobank Hellastat released today.

The survey, examining the domestic market of olive oil production, finds that consumption of olive oil stabilized at 200,000 tons in the 2012-2013 period, and was expected to fall further in the current period.

This decline basically covers brand olive oil products. At the same time, consumption of labelled olive oil is constantly rising putting more pressure to brand producers.

Domestic olive oil production totaled 357,900 tons in the 2012-2013 period showing an increase of 22% from the previous year, while production in the 2013-2014 period was expected to fall by 62% to 135,500 tons due to negative weather conditions.

The survey looked at the financial results of 110 enterprises in the sector, with a total turnover of 409.77 million euros in 2012, down 4% from the previous year.

Operating earnings fell 7% to 28.17 million euros, while pre-tax earnings dropped 40% to 3.56 million euros.