Determination of Household Expenditure for Edible Oils and Fats in Türkiye

Edible oils and fats meet an important part of daily nutrition and energy needs. This study aims to determine the socio-demographic characteristics affecting on edible oil and fat consumption of households in Türkiye. The data used in this research were obtained from surveys conducted with 12.023 people who registered in the address-based population registration system of the Turkish Statistical Institution 2017. The Heckman model was used to analyse the obtained data. The results show that the consumption of oil is distributed within the households as 55.3%, 32.6%, 32.9% and 10.1% for edible oil, butter, margarine and olive oil, respectively. As the education level of consumers increases, olive oil consumption expenditure tends to increase, but edible oil and butter consumption expenditure decreases. Additionally, spending on olive oil increases as the age of the household head increases. According to the results of the demand model, when household monthly expenditure increases by one Turkish lira, the probability of consuming margarine and other vegetable fats increases by 43.9% and olive oil by 96.6%. The results of this research provide up-to-date information relating to edible oils and fat consumption in Türkiye, and will provide important information to policymakers to increase the production and consumption of both animal and vegetable oils. Moreover, national and international suppliers of edible oils and fats should consider the results of this study when determining the target market.