Thirty-seven million hectares of agricultural land worldwide are
farmed organically. The global market for organic food is estimated at 44.5 billion euros. It grew
by approximately eight percent in 2010. <br>These figures are from the 12th edition of “The World of
Organic Agriculture” and are based on 2010 data. This comprehensive standard reference book includes
organic agriculture statistics from 160 countries and will be released at BioFach. The Research
Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements (IFOAM) will present the newest facts and figures (data per end of 2010) about organic
agriculture on Wednesday, February 15, 2012.<br>Largest growth of organic area is in Europe.<br>The
largest growth of organic agricultural land was in Europe, where the area increased by 0.8 million
hectares and is now at 10 million hectares (+9 % compared with 2009). In Asia, organic farmland
decreased. Overall, however, global organic agricultural land has not changed compared with the 2009
data. <br>One third of the global organic agricultural land is in Oceania (33 %), followed by Europe
(27 %) and Latin America (23 %). Australia is the country with the biggest organic agricultural area
(12 million hectares), followed by Argentina (4.2 million hectares) and the USA (1.9 million
hectares). The countries with the largest share of organic agricultural land of all farmland are the
Falkland Islands (36 %), followed by Liechtenstein (27 %) and Austria (20 %). <br>Globally 1.6
million producers farm using organic methods, and approximately 80 % of these are in developing
countries. As in previous years, the countries with the most producers are India, Uganda, Mexico and
Ethiopia.<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The organic market is growing worldwide
</span><br>The market research company Organic Monitor estimated the global market for organic
products in 2010 at 59.1 billion US dollars (44.5 billion euros). Compared with 2009, the market
increased by roughly 8% in Europe and the United States. The leading market is the United States
with 20.2 billion euros. In Europe, where 19.6 billion euros were spent, Germany leads at 6 billion
euros, followed by France (3.4 billion euros) and the United Kingdom (2 billion euros). The
countries with the highest annual per capita spending were Switzerland and Denmark with more than
140 euros. <br>According to FiBL, these figures show that in countries where organic agriculture is
institutionally well embedded, there is a constant growth of the market and of the area under
organic management. This is impressively shown in the case of Europe, where many countries provide a
wide range of support measures like direct payments, advisory services, relevant research and
marketing measures. In countries where organic agriculture is not yet fully integrated into national
agricultural policies, and farmers receive less support through advice and research, the ups and
downs of the organic area can be substantial. <br><br><span style="text-decoration:
underline;">Background</span><br>The data on organic agriculture worldwide are being presented for
the thirteenth consecutive year at BioFach. The book contains reports by long-standing experts on
the organic sector about the emerging trends in all regions and selected countries. The statistics
are presented in graphs and tables. In addition, background information on issues such as standards
and legislation is provided. <br><br><br>Further information is available at <a href="http://www.organic-world.net/yearbook-2012.html">www.organic-world.net<…;. <br><br><a href="../share/img_lib_files/1707_mm-organic-agriculture120214-graphs.pdf"></a><br><br>Source: FiBL and IFOAM<br><br><br>
Menu
Menu
