Background: Fats and oils are a heterogeneous group of predominantly hydrophobicrncompounds. Although many plant parts may yield oil in commercial practice, oil is extractedrnprimarily from seeds mainly using solvent extraction. Edible oils sold in Addis Ababa arernmainly imported from Asian countries while others are locally produced. The quality ofrnedible oil is a measure of identity and edibility and it is determined by analysis ofrnphysicochemical characteristics of edible oils following standard procedures.rnAims of the study: The aim of this study is to assess the physicochemical characteristics ofrncommonly imported and locally produced edible oils.rnMethods and materials: A total of 16 samples (12 locally produced and 4 commonlyrnimported edible oil samples) were collected randomly in local markets. All samples wererntaken immediately to the laboratory and stored at room temperature until analyses wererncompleted. The physicochemical properties, physical parameters like refractive index (RI),rnspecific gravity (SG)and relative viscosity (RV)and chemical parameters like iodine valuern(IV), peroxide value (PV), saponification value (SV), acid value (AV), Free fatty acid contentsrn(FFAs)and insoluble impurities (IIM)were assessed using standard procedures.rnResults: Most of the physical characteristics of imported edible oils are within thernrecommended values. Palm oils have significantly the lowest mean IV of all. Mean IV ofrnChief Brand palm oil is below the WHO recommended value while mean IV of Reinna Brandrnpalm, rape seed and niger seed oils are higher than the recommended value. The mean SV ofrnline seed, niger seed and cotton seed oils are higher than the recommended values. The meanrnPV of rape seed oil is higher than ESA (Ethiopian Standard Agency)recommended values.rnThe mean AV of locally produced edible oils are higher than the ESA recommended valuesrnexcept cotton seed oil while mean AV of imported edible oils fall in the recommended value.rnThe mean IIM values of locally produced oils exceed more than ten times than the Ethiopianrnstandards recommended value while the imported oils of mean IIM values are very close tornthe maximum recommended value.rnConclusion: Commonly imported edible oils have relatively better physicochemicalrncharacteristics than locally produced edible oils.