Olive growing in Balıkesir
Marmara region · 151.630 t of olives and 19.174 t of olive oil in 2025-26.
In the 2025-26 season Balıkesir harvested 151.630 tonnes of olives from 10.976.000 bearing trees — an average of 13.8 kg per tree. Of that crop 34.732 t went to the table and 116.898 t to pressing, yielding 19.174 tonnes of olive oil.
Where it stands
- 1 of 9 in the Marmara region — 38.3% of the region's crop, 6.2% of Turkey's
- 13.8 kg per tree — 1.3 kg above the regional average of 12.5 kg
- 23% of the crop goes to the table (regional average 41%) — oil-oriented
The Gulf of Edremit olive belt
The heart of olive growing in Balıkesir is the Gulf of Edremit. The districts of Edremit, Burhaniye, Havran and Gömeç are known together as the "Gulf of Edremit olive belt"; add Ayvalık and you have a production band whose table olives and oil reach world markets.
Beyond the coastal strip, olives are also grown in Erdek, Bandırma and Marmara Island — the province holds two distinct olive geographies, one facing the Aegean gulf and one on the Marmara coast.
The groves around the gulf include trees 500 to 800 years old, among the oldest in Turkey. The monumental olive trees of Edremit are the measured record of that inheritance.
Ayvalık olive oil and the gulf's variety
Ayvalık Olive Oil was registered as a designation of origin in 2007 and is known for its sensory and chemical profile.
The dominant variety around the gulf is Edremit (Ayvalık): thin-skinned, relatively low in flesh and high in oil — sources give figures between 25% and 28%. That structure steers the variety towards oil rather than the table.
On the province's Marmara coast grows Edincik Su, named after Edincik near Bandırma — a separate variety from the one in the gulf. Two varietal geographies within one province make Balıkesir a place where oil and table production meet.
The full list of recorded varieties and their regional spread: olive map of Turkey
2025-26 season
| Bearing trees | 10.976.000 |
| Olives | 151.630 t |
| To the table | 34.732 t (%23) |
| For oil | 116.898 t |
| Olive oil | 19.174 t |
| Per tree | 13.8 kg |
Only the current season is published for this province; the multi-season series exists for İzmir, Aydın, Manisa, Muğla, Bursa and Çanakkale.
Geographical indications
The registration belongs to the product of a defined area, not to the variety wherever it grows.
- Ayvalık Olive Oil designation of origin · reg. no 88 · Ayvalık
- Edremit Körfezi Yeşil Çizik Zeytini designation of origin · reg. no 189
- Edremit Zeytinyağı designation of origin · reg. no 273
- North Aegean Olive Oils geographical indication · reg. no 392
- Burhaniye Zeytinyağı designation of origin · reg. no 518
- Edincik Zeytini designation of origin · reg. no 1556
- Edincik Su Zeytinyağı designation of origin · reg. no 1595
- Erdek Kapıdağ Zeytinyağı geographical indication · reg. no 1733
Varieties of the Marmara region
Varieties are recorded by region in the source, not by province.
Balıkesir in our articles
- Olive varieties: seventeen Turkish varieties in numbers
- The Olive: Tree, History, Production and Future
- Olive oil trade in the Ottoman Empire: Britain the buyer, the crop the price
- Oleotourism: a grove's second income
- The Ayvalık Olive Oil designation of origin: the chemical profile in the certificate
- The Domat olive: the cultivar behind stuffed olives, in numbers
- Edremit Olive Oil: thirteen separate fruity perceptions listed
- How many kilos of olives does one tree yield?