Whether you’re a nutrition professional or simply passionate about healthy eating, it is time for us to review Australia’s latest National Nutrition Survey results. Practising in Australia or abroad – national surveys offer valuable insights that shape our understanding of global nutrition trends. Today, we will be focusing on our favourite topic…fats! Are Australians getting enough healthy fats? And more importantly, what can we do to close the gap?

Collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 2023 and published late this year, there is no more time to waste – continue reading to hear our analysis.  

How much fat are Australians eating?

Under macronutrients, ABS reported that Australians are consuming 32.4% of their daily energy in the form of fats.¹ For most, the current recommendation is for fats to contribute to 20-35% of daily energy intake – meaning Australians are well within the range.²

Since the last national nutrition survey in 2011-12, the percentage of daily energy from fats has increased from 30.9%.² It seems like most Australians are eating the right quantity of fat, but are they eating the right types? Healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) are loaded with heart, brain and bodily benefits^3-5 – making daily consumption a very important part of the diet.    

What types of fats are Australians eating?

Comparing the recent survey with 2011-12 results, percentage of daily energy derived from saturated and trans fat has slightly increased from 12.4% to 13%.^{1, 2} Whilst not a huge difference, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends for this total to be under 10%.¹ Additionally, ABS reported that 39.9% of these saturated and trans fats were derived from discretionary foods, meaning a multi-faceted approach is needed to improve fat quality across Australia’s food system.¹

Unlike 2011-12, the latest rendition of Australia’s National Nutrition Survey includes a section identifying the proportions of Australians that use certain oils for cooking vegetables, meat, poultry and seafood (oils and fats used for baking were excluded).¹ Despite their differences in composition and health benefits, in this survey both EVOO and refined olive oil (OO) were grouped together as they are both derived from the same fruit. Whilst we would find it insightful to assess the two separately, it is fantastic to see that the majority of Australia have stated OO appears in their diet.

How does it compare to sales data?

Common limitations of self-reported surveys are question type and accuracy of recalls (e.g. it can be difficult to know exactly how many tablespoons of EVOO you consume daily). A simple way to paint a clearer picture is to cross analyse the results with other comparable databases.

Our team had a closer look at Australia’s volume sales data of common cooking oils over the last 12 months to better understand what is being consumed on a national level.⁶

Type of oil	Australian national survey data (adjusted to exclude those who use no oil)	Proportion of total cooking oil litres sold
Olive oil	64.5%	41.2%
Vegetable oil	11.5%	21.5%
Canola oil	10.1%	21.1%
Rice bran oil	3.2%	5.8%
Sunflower oil	2.9%	5.1%

3 key take aways:

1. The survey data and sales data follow a similar trend, suggesting that OO (including EVOO and any other edible oil derived from an olive) is the most widely used cooking oil by Australians when measured by proportion of population and volume.
2. Percentage volume sold of OO is significantly lower than proportion of Australians who use OO – suggesting that educating others to consuming higher volumes of EVOO/OO that better aligns with clinical recommendations is another area that requires more support from practitioners.
3. The opposite trend is present in the four highly refined oils analysed – suggesting that when used, these oils are used in high quantities.

Conclusion 

From macronutrient analysis to the types of cooking oils used in the kitchen, the 2023 national survey results did not disappoint! Understanding the type of fats being consumed by the general public can help shape our priorities when consulting, improving the way we support those who need it. From these results we can see that more than 60% of Australians have reported including OO in their diet, suggesting that many may understand that EVOO is the healthiest oil to cook with. With more than 35% of Australians not including OO in their diet according to survey results, there is still plenty of education to be done to help people all around the globe meet the recommended amount of EVOO daily.  

Published 19/12/2025

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