Palm oil and palm kernel oil is an important and versatile vegetable oil which is used as a raw material for both food and non-food industries. Obtained from the fruit (both the flesh and the kernel) of the oil palm tree, it contributes to the economic development of the producing countries and to the diets of millions of people around the world. Oil palms can grow 20 metres tall with leaves up to 5 metres long. They bear clusters of fruit all year long, with each fully matured cluster weighing up to 50 kg. Oil palms are highly efficient oil producers, with each fruit containing about 50% oil. As a result they require ten times less land than other oil-producing crops. Palm oil and palm kernel oil are entirely GM (Genetically modified) free. Vegetable oil production around the world totals over 144 million tones per year, of which over 47 million tones is palm oil. Along with soy oil, palm oil makes up 60% of world production. From the 1990s to the present time, the area under palm oil cultivation had increased by about 43%. Today, seventeen countries produce palm oil, though Malaysia and Indonesia account for 85% of global palm oil production, where 4.5 million people earn a living from palm oil. The top five producing nations are Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nigeria and Colombia.