The total area used for organic agricultural production has increased significantly in several European countries, with Croatia reporting a 306% increase between 2012 and 2022, according to new data.
Other countries with notable increases include Portugal (278%), Bulgaria (182%), France (179%), Hungary (145%), Romania (123%), and Italy (101%), according to Eurostat’s data.
Across the European Union, the total area dedicated to organic agricultural production has been on the rise, reaching 16.9 million hectares in 2022, up from 15.9 million hectares in 2021 and 14.7 million hectares in 2020.
Austria leads the way
On a country-by-country basis, Austria leads with 27% of its total farmland dedicated to organic production, followed by Estonia (23%) and Sweden (20%). Conversely, the share of organic farming remains below 5% in five EU countries, with Malta at 1%, and Bulgaria and Ireland at 2%.
Overall, organic farming accounted for 10.5% of total EU agricultural land in 2022.
Expanding organic production
One of the primary goals of the European Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy is to promote the expansion of organic farming areas. The strategy aims to have at least 25% of the EU’s agricultural land under organic farming by 2030.
In the livestock sector, as of 2022, 5.4 million bovine animals (7.2% of all bovines), 1.0 million cows (4.9%), and 6.1 million sheep (10.4%) were reared using organic methods.
Organic cereal production (including grain and seed), however, remains a relatively small part of total cereal production in the EU. The highest shares recorded among EU countries in 2022 were in Sweden (7.0%), Estonia (6.6%), and Italy (6.4%).
Sweden also led in organic fresh vegetable production, with 19.2% of its total vegetable production being organic, followed by Germany (11.4%) and Italy (6.3%).
