Objective This study aimed to investigate the contamination status of aflatoxins (AF) in traditionally-produced vegetable oils in Chongqing and assess the health risk for the population exposed to AF through the consumption of such oil. Methods Samples of traditionally-produced vegetable oils were randomly collected from 39 districts in Chongqing for AF detection. Based on the dietary data from the 2018 China Health and Nutrition Survey, the simple distributed risk assessment method was applied for dietary exposure assessment. The margin of exposure (MOE) value and quantitative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk method were used to characterize the risk. Results The detection rate of AF in traditionally-produced vegetable oils was 7.77%, with an average concentration of 0.10-0.48 μg/kg (LB-UB) and zero non-compliance rate. The detection rate of AF in traditionally-produced peanut oil was the highest (22.73%). There was no significant difference in AF contamination levels between traditionally-produced vegetable oils in different packaging types or at different sampling stages. The average AF exposure level for the whole population in Chongqing through the consumption of traditionally- produced vegetable oils ranged from 0.069 to 0.319 ng/kg bw/day (LB-UB), with a high exposure level (P95) of 0.209-0.967 ng/kg bw/day (LB-UB). There was no significant difference in the exposure levels between males and females, but the exposure level of children aged 2-6 years was the highest (0.132-0.610 ng/kg bw/day) among different age groups. The HCC risk was below 1 case of HCC per (100 000 person-year), but the MOE values for different genders and age groups were all below 10 000. Conclusion The health risk of HCC caused by exposure to AF in traditionally-pressed vegetable oils in the population of Chongqing is relatively low, but there is still potential food safety risk. Continuous monitoring of AF contamination in key foods and efforts to reduce exposure risks for sensitive populations should be prioritized.