Organic farming Organic area up by 21% in the EU between 2005 and 2008

STAT/10/30

1 March 2010

Organic farming
Organic area up by 21%

in the EU between 2005 and 2008

Organic farming 1 in the EU27 covered 7.8 million hectares in 2008, up by 7% compared with 2007. Over a longer time period, the data available for the EU25 show an increase of 21% in the total organic area between 2005 and 2008.

In 2008, the five Member States with the largest organic area in the EU27 were Spain (1.3 mn ha), Italy (1.0 mn ha), Germany (0.9 mn ha), the United Kingdom (0.7 mn ha) and France (0.6 mn ha).

In 2007, the total organic area accounted for 4.1% of the total utilised agricultural area 2 in the EU27 . The highest proportions of organic area were recorded in Austria (15.7% of the total agricultural area), Sweden (9.9%) and Italy (8.9%).

These figures are extracted from a report 3 issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union .

Highest increase in organic area between 2005 and 2008 in Poland, Lithuania and Spain

Between 2007 and 2008, the total organic area increased in all Member States for which data are available, except Italy (-13%). The highest increases were recorded in Spain (+33%), Bulgaria (+22%), Slovakia (+19%), Hungary (+15%) and Greece (+14%). For the longer time period between 2005 and 2008, the highest increases were found in Poland (+94%), Lithuania (+89%), Spain (+63%) and Belgium (+57%). Decreases were registered only in Italy (-6%) and Hungary (-5%).

Cereals and green fodder most important organic arable crops

In 2008, the three main uses for organic land in the EU27 were pastures & meadows (44% of the fully converted organic area 1 in the EU27 excluding Germany), arable crops (37%) and permanent crops (10%). The remaining 9% are fallow and unutilised land.

In 2008, the most important arable crop in the EU27 was cereals (44% of the fully converted organic area under arable crops), followed by green fodder (42%), other arable crops such as dried pulses, potatoes, sugar beet, arable seeds & seedlings (7%), fresh vegetables and industrial crops (both 4%).

Cereals were particularly important in Lithuania (79% of the area under arable crops), Portugal (75%) and Ireland (73%), while the highest proportions of green fodder were found in Latvia (67%), Estonia (66%) and Sweden (58%).

Organic area

* Malta 2006; Cyprus, Portugal 2007

: Data not a vailable

- Not applicable

Fully converted organic area under arable crops, 2008

* Estimated excluding Germany

Malta 2006; Cyprus, Portugal 2007; Ireland, Spain: total organic area under arable crops

: Data not available

• Organic farming is defined as a method of production which places the highest emphasis on environmental protection and, with regard to livestock production, animal welfare considerations. It avoids or largely reduces the use of synthetic chemical inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, additives and medicinal products. Organic area includes both areas fully converted and areas under conversion. An organic product - crop, animal or animal product - is certified as fully organic if it has been sown or bred using the methods established by Council Regulation 834/2007. This Regulation also establishes transitional periods to certify a crop, animal or animal product as "fully organic". During this period, which varies by type of crop and animal, the area, crop, animal or animal product are said to be "under conversion".

• The Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) is the total area taken up by arable land, permanent grassland, permanent crops and kitchen gardens.

• Eurostat , Statistics in Focus 10/2010 " Area under organic farming increased by 7.4% between 2007 and 2008 in the EU-27 " can be downloaded in PDF format from the Eurostat website.

Eurostat News Releases on the Internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat