Olive growing in Aydın

Aydın holds more olive trees than any other province in Turkey. The main growing areas are Kuşadası, Söke, Selçuk, Koçarlı, Sultanhisar, Nazilli, Yenipazar, Çine and Karacasu.

The province lies in the Büyük Menderes basin; most rain falls in winter and the summer is dry, with prevailing winds from the east and south-east. These conditions have made the olive one of the province's principal crops.

Aydın's table holds an interesting contradiction: although it has the most trees, it is not the largest producer. With 22.8 million bearing trees it sits just behind Manisa (25.0 million), yet its 478,484 t in 2024-25 places it third.

The reason is yield: 21.0 kg per tree in Aydın against 26.7 kg in İzmir and 33.1 kg in Çanakkale. Tree numbers rose only 3.2% over eleven years — a flat picture beside Manisa's 43.9%. Aydın looks like a mature olive province that has finished growing.

21% of the crop goes to table use, and the extraction rate of 6.6 is among the highest in the Aegean, indicating relatively low oil content in the fruit sent for pressing.