EU organic farming: 16.9 million hectares in 2022

The area used for organic agricultural production in the EU continues to increase, and in 2022 reached 16.9 million hectares (ha), up from 15.9 million ha in 2021 and 14.7 million ha in 2020. In 2022, the area used for organic farming was equivalent to 10.5% of the total utilised agricultural area (UAA) in the EU.

Between 2012 and 2022, the area used for organic farming increased in almost all EU countries. The sharpest rates of expansion in this period were in Croatia (+306%), Portugal (278%) and Bulgaria (182%).

The highest shares of organic farming areas within the total UAA were in Austria (27%), Estonia (23%) and Sweden (20%).  By contrast, the share of organic farming was below 5% in 5 EU countries in 2022, with the lowest shares in Malta (under 1%), Bulgaria and Ireland (both 2%).

This information comes from data published by Eurostat today. The article presents a handful of findings from the more detailed Statistics Explained article.

Source datasets: org_cropar and apro_cpsh1