Retail sales of organic products in Europe in 2022 fell slightly (-2.2% on 2021 figures) to be worth EUR 53.1 billion, as the organic sector lost some ground amid a growing cost of living crisis. However, the amount of organic farmland increased by 5.1% and the number of organic producers grew by nearly 10%. 

The figures were released today by the Research Institutes of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), on the first day of the Biofach trade fair and congress in Nuremberg, Germany, and come from the 2024 edition of the annual World of Organic Agriculture report. 

The report shows that In 2022, 18.5 million hectares of farmland in Europe were organic (16.9 million hectares in the European Union (EU). France continued to lead as the number one country in terms of farmland under organic management with 2.9 million hectares, followed by Spain (2.7 million hectares), Italy (2.3 million hectares), and Germany (1.9 million hectares).

Organic farmland increased by more than 0.8 million hectares, representing a 5.1 % increase in the EU and a 1.0 % increase in Europe. In comparison to 2021, Greece and Italy reported the largest increases, with 0.4 million hectares and 0.2 million hectares, respectively.

Organic farmland share tops 10%
In 2022, organic farmland in Europe constituted 3.7%  of the total agricultural land, while it accounted for 10.4 % in the European Union. Among European countries and globally, Liechtenstein had the highest organic area share at 43.0 %, followed by Austria, the EU country with the highest organic share at 27.5 %. Fifteen European countries reported that at least 10 % of their farmland was organic.

There were more than 480,000 organic producers in Europe and over 419,000 in the EU, representing an increase of 7.5 and 9.5 %, respectively. Italy had the highest number with 82,593.

In Europe, there were 91,775 processors, while the EU had 85,956. Additionally, 7,609 importers were counted in Europe, with 6,450 in the European Union. Italy had the highest number of processors, nearly 24,000, while Germany led in the number of importers with more than 1,900.

Germany remains biggest market
Retail sales of organic products in Europe reached a total value of EUR 53.1 billion in 2022 (EUR 45.1 billion within the European Union). Germany stood out as the largest market, boasting sales of EUR 15.3 billion. Globally, the EU held the position of the second-largest single market for organic products, trailing behind only the United States, which reported sales of EUR 58.6 billion.

In 2022, the European market experienced a 2.2 % drop (EU: -2.8 %). While several countries faced declining sales, noteworthy growth was observed in countries such as Estonia (+6.0 %) and The Netherlands (+4.4 %).

In 2022, consumers in Europe spent an average of EUR 64 on organic food per person (EUR 102 in the EU). Consumer spending on organic food per capita doubled in the decade from 2013 to 2022. In 2022, Swiss and Danish consumers spent the most on organic food, with EUR 437 and 365 per capita, respectively.

Great Danes
Globally, European countries accounted for the highest share of organic food sales as a %age of their respective food markets. Denmark continued to have the highest share worldwide, with 12.0 % in 2022, followed by Austria with a share of 11.5 % and Switzerland with 11.2 %.

Main image: New data was released at Biofach earlier today. NuernbergMesse / Uwe Niklas