Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

e-mail contact : ESTAT-SDG-MONITORING@ec.europa.eu

The indicator is part of the EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set. It is used to monitor progress towards SDG 2 on ending hunger and malnutrition; which is embedded in the European Commission’s Priorities under the 'European Green Deal'.

SDG 2 - among other things - aims to ensure access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food. Sustainable and resilient food production systems are a key factor in achieving this goal. Organic farming is a method of production that puts 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 medical products.

Indicator can be considered as part of global SDG indicator 2.4.1 "Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture". While organic farming is not explicitly mentioned in the Agenda 2030, the EU considers organic farming as a method of production, which puts 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 medical products. The production of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their use in animal feed are forbidden. It is as a part of a sustainable farming system and a viable alternative to the more traditional approaches to agriculture.

The EU Farm to Fork Strategy for sustainable food is a key component of the European Green Deal. The strategy aims to reduce the use and risk of chemical pesticides, reduce nutrient losses, and reduce the use of fertilisers and antibiotics. The Farm to Fork strategy sets the target of achieving 25 % of the EU’s total farmland under organic farming by 2030.

The indicator measures the share of total utilised agricultural area (UAA) occupied by organic farming (existing organically-farmed areas and areas in process of conversion).

Farming is recognised to be organic if it complies with Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007, which has set up a comprehensive framework for the organic production of crops and livestock and for the labelling, processing and marketing of organic products, as well as for governing imports of organic products into the EU. The detailed rules for the implementation of this Regulation are laid down in Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008.

% of total utilised agricultural area (UAA)

Calendar year.

The indicator is produced according to the high-level quality standards of European Statistics. Details on accuracy can be found in the metadata of the source datasets (see link to related metadata).

ESS

Data source: European Statistical System (ESS).
Data provider: Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), based on data reported by the countries.

Every year

Indicator is updated annually. Complete and updated ESS data release information can be accessed via Eurostat release calendar.

T+1 year

New data points are disseminated within one year after the reference year.

All EU MS

Data are presented for all EU Member States plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye.

All EU MS

Because of missing national methodologies, the reliability of comparisons between countries might be limited in spite of harmonised questionnaire for the data collection on organic farming.

> 10 years

Presented time series (including EU aggregates) starts in 2005.

> 4 data points

Length of comparable time series without methodological break is longer than 4 data points.

Analysis of indicator is presented in Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).

See table  sdg_02_40

Eurostat dedicated section on SDGs: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi/overview

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