Globally over 72.3 million hectares of farmland certified organic

Steady increase of organic farmland

The latest survey of organic agriculture from the organic institute, FiBL today reveals that a total of 72.3 million hectares were organically managed at the end of 2019.                                 This represents a growth of 1.6 percent or 1.1 million hectares compared to 2018.

Australia has the largest organic agricultural area (35.7 million hectares), followed by Argentina (3.7 million hectares), and Spain (2.4 million hectares).

Europe has the second largest area (16.5 million hectares), followed by Latin America (8.3 million hectares). The organic area increased in all continents compared to 2018, except in Asia (mainly due to a drop in organic farmland reported from China) and Oceania.

Ten percent or more of the farmland is organic in 16 countries

Globally, 1.5 percent of farmland is organic. However, many countries have far higher shares.

The countries with the largest organic share of their total farmland are Liechtenstein (41.0 percent), Austria (26.1 percent) and São Tomé and Príncipe (24.9 percent).

Some states in India are or aspire to be 100 % organic in the coming years. In sixteen countries, 10 percent or more of all agricultural land is organic.

Global market reached more than 100 billion euros

The global market for organic food reached 106 billion euros in 2019.

The United States is the leading market (44.7 billion euros), followed by Germany (12.0 billion euros) and France (11.3 billion euros). In 2019, many major markets continued to show strong growth rates; for example, the French market increased by more than 13 percent.

Danish and Swiss consumers spent the most on organic food (344 and 338 euros per capita, respectively). Denmark had the highest organic market share, with 12.1 percent of its total food market.

Organic producers on the rise – 3.1 million producers in 2019

There were at least 3.1 million organic producers in 2019. Fifty-one percent of the world’s organic producers are in Asia, followed by Africa (27 percent), Europe (14 percent) and Latin America (7 percent).

The countries with the most producers are India (1’366’226), Uganda (210’353) and Ethiopia (203’602) (page 58).

There has been an increase in the number of producers of more than 347’000, or 12.5 percent, compared to 2018.

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The 22nd survey on organic agriculture worldwide was carried out by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL.

The full report is avaiable here

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FiBL World ORGANIC Infographics 2021 available here