1.1. Contact organisation
[4D0] European Commission (including Eurostat)
1.2. Contact organisation unit
[4D1_E1] Eurostat - Agriculture and fisheries
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
European Commission, Eurostat
L-2920, LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
31 July 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
31 July 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
31 July 2026
The primary objective of irrigation is to provide plants with sufficient water to obtain optimum yields and a high-quality harvested crop. Irrigation is essential in dry climates where precipitation is not sufficient for plant growth. Supplemental irrigation is also vital to produce high levels of quality and yield of crops on croplands in semi-arid and sub-humid climates during dry seasonal periods and drought spells where otherwise farming would not be economically viable. Increasingly dry summers due to climate change sharpen the situation. Irrigation increases yield and therefore contributes significantly to agricultural output and food supply.
At the same time, irrigation water use is a major driving force behind water abstraction. The need for a sustainable and integrated approach to managing water resources in Europe is reflected in water-related policy and legislation. The Water Framework Directive (WFD), as EU’s principal legal framework for water management, promotes sustainable water use by setting out rules for the protection of available water resources. Stemming from the WFD, the 2025 European Water Resilience Strategy sets the current political roadmap, investment priorities and main actions to strengthen the implementation of the Directive and to adapt EU’s water policy to emerging pressures from climate change and increasing water demand, in line with the 2024-2029 Political Guidelines.
Also the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) instruments aim at a sustainable water management. The indicator on irrigation is part of the Agri-environmental indicators (AEIs) of the European Union (EU) which track the integration of environmental concerns into the CAP at EU, national and regional levels.
4.1. Data description
The table shows the share of irrigable and irrigated area in utilised agricultural area (UAA) at country level from 2005 onwards. The irrigable area is the area which is equipped for irrigation and gives a long-term view of the irrigation needs and expected irrigation needs of farmers. The irrigated area measures the actual amount of land irrigated, and is a snapshot of the irrigation needed in that particular year.
The data are collected by the Member States (plus Norway, the United Kingdom until 2016 and for some years Iceland, Switzerland, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia) on the level of agricultural holdings (farms) within the scope of the Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS).
The legal basis for the IFS (2020 onwards) is Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on integrated farm statistics.
4.2. Unit of measure
Percentage of utilised agricultural area (UAA)
4.3. Reference Period
12-month period ending within the reference year
4.4. Accuracy - overall
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 dataset (see link in "Related metadata" at the end of the report).
4.5. Source data
4.5.1. Source data - Organisation
European Statistical System (ESS)
4.5.2. Source data - Comment
Data provider: Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat), Unit E1: Agriculture and fisheries
Data source: Integrated farm statistics, table ef_fsi_irri - Irrigable and irrigated area
5.1. Frequency of dissemination
5.1.1. Frequency of dissemination - Grade
Every 3+ years5.1.2. Frequency of dissemination - Comment
Farm structure data are collected from agricultural censuses every ten years and from sample surveys every 3 or 4 years in between. The time series available in this dataset is 2005, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2020 and 2023. More information can be found in the metadata of the source dataset (see link in "Related metadata" at the end of the report).
5.2. Timeliness
5.2.1. Timeliness - Grade
> T+2 years5.2.2. Timeliness - Comment
The deadlines for the transmission of IFS data are set by Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091.
Results are disseminated following validation, confidentiality treatment and tabulation, around 2 years after the reference year.
6.1. Reference area
6.1.1. Reference Area - Grade
All EU MS6.1.2. Reference Area - Comment
Data are presented for all EU Member States, plus Norway, and the United Kingdom until 2016. For some years data are presented for Iceland, Switzerland, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
6.2. Comparability - geographical
6.2.1. Comparability - geographical - Grade
> 75% EU MS6.2.2. Comparability - geographical - Comment
Comparability across countries is considered to be high.
For irrigated area, Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 exempted countries from carrying out the 'Irrigation' module in 2023 if irrigable area represented less than 2% of the UAA and where there were no NUTS 2 level regions with irrigable area corresponding to at least 5% of the UAA. Exempted countries include Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Slovenia.
Further details on comparability can be found in the metadata of the source dataset (see link in "Related metadata" at the end of the report).
6.3. Coverage - Time
6.3.1. Time Coverage - Grade
> 10 years6.3.2. Time Coverage - Comment
This dataset covers data from 2005 onwards. For Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Croatia and Luxembourg, data are not available for all years; the same applies to Iceland, Switzerland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and the United Kingdom.
Generally, farm structure data have been collected since 1966. The online database is available from 1990 onwards. Historic data about irrigation in hectares from 1990-2007 are available in the dataset ef_lu_ofirrig in Eurobase - Eurostat's dissemination database.
6.4. Comparability - over time
6.4.1. Comparability - over time - Grade
> 4 data points6.4.2. Comparability - over time - Comment
The implementation of the Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS) in 2020 introduced a division of the target population into two components: the ‘main frame’ includes agricultural holdings above physical thresholds defined in the legislation, while the ‘frame extension’ covers smaller holdings below these thresholds. In the legislative framework, data collection requirements for below-threshold units vary across time. This variability leads to gaps in data availability for the entire population of agricultural holdings and poses challenges for the comparability of results. To address this issue, an estimation procedure based on imputation techniques applied at the level of microdata has been developed to produce consistent estimates for below-threshold units where data are missing, which have been published in the Eurobase datasets under Farm structural indicators [ef_fsi]. More details about the estimation procedure can be found in the Statistics Explained article Farm structure - estimation of missing data.
Further details on comparability can be found in the metadata of the source dataset (see link in "Related metadata" at the end of the report).
7.1. Dissemination format - Publications
No publication
7.2. Dissemination format - online database
Eurobase table tai03 - Share of irrigable and irrigated areas in utilised agricultural area (UAA)
7.3. Dissemination format - other
Irrigated and irrigable areas is one of a set of 28 indicators developed by the Commission in close collaboration with Member States following the last Commission Communication on Agri-environmental indicators of 2006.
