EU publishes "Facts and figures on organic agriculture in the European Union"

<div align="justify">The Report, elaborated by the Commission, provides a comprehensive overview of the organic sector in the EU and it evolution in the last years. The EU-27 had in 2011 a total area of 9.6 million hectares cultivated as organic, up from 5.7 million in 2002. During the last decade, organic area in<br>the EU improved by about 500,000 hectares per year. The whole organic area represents 5.4% of total utilised agricultural area in Europe. The<br>organic area is cultivated by more than 186 000 farms across Europe. Most of the organic land (78%) and of organic farms (83%) are situated in the EU Member States having joined the EU before 2004 (the so called EU-15), in which national and European legislation, among others, helped stimulate the development of this sector. European organic farms have larger extensions in relationto conventional ones, and data on organic farm managers show that these tend to<br>be generally younger than the average conventional farmers in Europe. More than 270 000 organic operators (producers, processors and importers) were<br>registered in the EU-27 in 2011. A major part of these operators (about 235 000) was represented by agricultural producers, who may also process and/or import organic products, and which were mostly active in the EU-15. Though about 11,600 producers were counted in the EU-N12 in 2002, their number grew to more than 50 000 in 2011, also as a result of additional financing provided by the European Union for this type of production following their accession.<br>Organic farms are active both in the arable crop and orchard as well as animal sectors.<br>Figures show that at EU level both types of production are registering a positive trend for the studied years. <br>Concerning crops or animal products,&nbsp; data show that permanent pasture represents the biggest share of the organic area (about 45%), followed by cereals (around 15%) and permanent crops (about 13%). Sheep (46%) and cattle (30%) are the most important types of organic animal<br>production at European level, with the exception of poultry. However, other types of animal production should be mentioned in the EU-27, such as pigs, which registered 10%, and goats, which were at 6% of organic production in Europe in 2011.<br></div><br><a href="http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/markets-and-prices/more-reports/pdf/org… Report</a><br><br>Source: European Commission