The Spanish Ministry of Agriculture has published organic production statistics for 2023. Nuts, olives, cereals and vineyards are the crops with the largest number of hectares under organic cultivation.
In one year, Spain increased the percentage of usable agricultural land dedicated to organic from 10.83% to 12.51%, which is now close to three million hectares.
Cattle breeding is the sector with the highest share of organic production, while organic aquaculture is growing by 7%.
Organic production activities have doubled in the last decade and the number of operators in the sector has increased by 6.28% in 2023.
Spain continues to lead the way in organic production and the share of organic production in the primary sector economy increases year by year. At the end of 2023, the utilised agricultural area (UAA) dedicated to organic plant production reached 2,991,881 hectares, 316,550 hectares or 12% more than the previous year. If organic forest land not considered as agricultural land is included, the final figure is 3,161,038 hectares.
These data, compiled by the autonomous communities and still provisional until validation by the European agency Eurostat, indicate that organic crop production occupies 12.51% of Spain’s UAA, up from 10.83% in 2022. The crops with the largest organic area are nuts (310,096 hectares), olive groves (292,868 hectares), cereals for grain production (261,924 hectares) and vineyards (166,285 hectares).
Andalucía is the autonomous community with the largest area of UAA in organic production (1.5 million hectares), followed by Castilla-La Mancha (519,327 hectares), Catalonia (253,642 hectares), Extremadura (141,001 hectares), the Region of Murcia (117,415 hectares) and Aragon (100,557 hectares).
In terms of animal production, organic livestock farming activities increased by 18% in 2023 compared to the previous year, reaching 11,106, with the cattle sector accounting for 53.52% of the total. The number of animals on organic farms decreased by 15% last year to 2,531,467 animals. The livestock sector also includes the registration of 92,487 beehives.
Last year, 32,064 tonnes of beef, 9,998 tonnes of sheep meat, 4,449 tonnes of pork, 19,203 tonnes of milk for direct consumption, 1,575 tonnes of cheese, 163.05 million eggs and 1,164 tonnes of honey, among other foodstuffs, were certified as organic.
Production from aquaculture also increased by 7% last year compared to 2022, to 4,306 tonnes. Of this quantity, generated mainly in Galicia and Asturias, 1,745 tonnes are mussels.
Last year’s wide variety of organic industrial production also included a total of 11,908 activities related to the production of oils, canned fruit and fish, bakery products, beverages, wines, dairy products and meat or feed preparations.
The year 2023 also saw a significant increase in the number of organic operators to 64,430, 6.28% more than the previous year. Some of them worked with more than one organic product, as the number of activities carried out was higher (68,448).
The data in the Ministry’s report confirm the sustained growth trend in the sector, which plays a crucial role in achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal. Spain is one of the key players in the progress towards the European Commission’s target of allocating 25% of the EU’s agricultural area to organic farming by 2030.
In the EU, according to the latest data published by Eurostat for 2022, Spain ranks second in terms of organic UAA, after France. According to information published by the French Agency for the Development and Promotion of Organic Agriculture (L’Agence BIO), all indications are that Spain will overtake France again in terms of organic area in 2023, a figure that will only be confirmed when official Eurostat statistics for last year are available.
The 2023 statistics, together with other information on the organic sector, can be found HERE
Source: Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación
