Organic farming area in the EU up 46 percent since 2012

The total organic area in the European Union (EU) was 13.8 million hectares in 2019, corresponding to 8.5% of the total utilized agricultural area. This represents an increase of 46% between 2012 and 2019.

Among the EU Member States, the countries with the largest shares of the organic area in 2019 were Austria (25.3% of the total utilized agricultural area), Estonia (22.3%), and Sweden (20.4%), followed by Czechia and Italy (both 15.2%), Latvia (14.8%) and Finland (13.5%).
 

All the remaining EU Member States had an organic farming area share at 11% or lower, with the smallest proportions observed in the Netherlands (3.7%), Poland (3.5%), Romania (2.9%), Bulgaria (2.3%), Ireland (1.6%) and Malta (0.5%).

Recently released data from Eurostat statistics report:
 

• Total organic farming area - 13.8 million hectares [as per 2019]
• It corresponds to 8.5% of the total utilized agricultural area
• Countries with the largest shares of the organic area in 2019 were Austria, Estonia & Sweden
• Sweden had the highest shares of organic cereals (7%) and fresh vegetables (19%), while Greece had the highest share of organic bovine production (27%).

EU organic farming stands for 19.3% of global agricultural land among 186 countries with organic activities. Organic share of total agricultural land reached 1.5% with the total organic market estimated at EUR 96.7 billion (FiBL survey 2020).

European Commission is currently working on the implementation of the Organic Action Plan aiming to reach a coverage of 25% of organic land by 2030.

Organic agriculture is a farming system which relies on crop rotations, the recycling of farm-produced organic materials & variety of non-chemical methods for the control of pests, diseases, and weeds.