Palm oil is at the same time the world’s most used vegetable oil and the most criticized for its environmental impacts due to the observed reduction in tropical forest areas for its cultivation over the past decades. There is, however, very little discussion on the socio-economic implications associated with the production of palm oil. To contribute to a more informed debate we conducted an in-depth review of the existing literature addressing the various socio-economic aspects of the production of palm oil, outlining its contribution to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The outcomes, findings, and conclusions from 82 studies, published from 2010 onward, were considered as positive, negative, neutral or varied, and sometimes even contradicting, with regard to the contribution of the palm cultivation and/or oil production to the achievement of a set of eight SDGs, selected considering those most related to the socio-economic development, differentiating when possible between sustainable and conventional production. Results show that it is difficult to draw uniform views, highlighting the nuances and varied facets of the contribution of palm oil to the eight SDGs, some of which are inevitably interconnected. In general, it emerges that palm oil plays a crucial role in boosting the economy and livelihoods of the local communities in many developing producer countries, substantially contributing to poverty reduction and to food security. However, the expansion of oil palm plantations has, in some cases, exacerbated social inequalities and the economic growth generated by the palm oil production chain is not always accompanied by decent working conditions. Against this backdrop, the achievement of some sustainable development goals is often facilitated by the implementation of sustainability certification schemes which play a key role in improving the socio-economic and environmental performance of palm oil production, enhancing socio-economic livelihoods for the people living in the production areas in terms of working conditions, infrastructure, services and higher wages, with consequent reduction of poverty rates, increase in quality education, better access to food and health care systems.