News Organic
Organic market continues to grow in European Union
Organic is in demand throughout the European Union. The organic sector is not only showing growth in value in 2019, but the sector has also made significant progress in terms of surface area. This is evident from new figures from research institute FiBL. Spain has the largest organic area, while Denmark has the highest market share.
The organic market continues to grow in the European Union. In the past 10 years, retail sales in both Europe and the European Union have more than doubled. In 2019, sales of organic products in Europe increased by 8% to €45 billion. In the European Union alone, this amounts to €41,4 billion. This makes the European Union the second largest domestic market for organic products, after the United States. In the latter country, the value is €44,7 billion.
The country with the largest organic market in 2019 was Germany, with sales of €12 billion. The biggest growth was for France. Sales there rose by 13,4%. In 2019, European consumers spent €56 per person on organic foods. In the European Union that was €84. The Danes and the Swiss have spent the most money on organic products, respectively €344 and €338 per capita.
Organic acreage is also increasing
The organic agricultural area has also increased in 2019, by approximately 0,9 million hectares (+5,9% compared to the previous year). In 2019, the European organic area was 16,5 million hectares and the European Union records an area of 14,6 million hectares. With 2,4 million hectares, Spain has the largest organic area, followed by France (2,2 million hectares) and Italy (2 million hectares). France also shows the largest increase, a plus of 206.000 hectares.
Of the total agricultural area in the European Union, 8,1% is organic and that percentage is 3,3% for Europe. Worldwide, Liechtenstein has the highest share of organic farmland, at 41%. It is followed by Austria, the country in the European Union with the highest share of organic soil (26,1%). In addition, in 12 European countries at least 10% of the total agricultural area is organic.
Denmark has the largest market share
In 2019, almost 430.000 producers were organic in Europe (+2,8%), while that share in the European Union is 343.000 (+5%). Turkey has the most organic companies, namely 74.545 units. The country is succeeded by Italy, with 70.561 organic farms. Denmark has the highest organic share worldwide. This is a percentage of 12,1%. This is followed by Switzerland (10,4%) and Austria (9,3%).
According to Helga Willer, one of the researchers at FiBL, the numbers show encouraging growth. "However, the organic sector will have to grow even further in the coming years if we are to achieve the European Commission's target." The Commission aims for more than 2030% of European agriculture and horticulture to be organic by 25.
Kimberly Baker
© DCA Market Intelligence. This market information is subject to copyright. It is not permitted to reproduce, distribute, disseminate or make the content available to third parties for compensation, in any form, without the express written permission of DCA Market Intelligence.
