BRUSSELS, 15 FEBRUARY 2022 – Today, the Research Institute on Organic Agriculture (FiBL) published their yearly statistics on organic in the world and in Europe – in collaboration with IFOAM Organics Europe and International. The elaborate collection of data in The World of Organic Agriculture 2022 shows that, in 2020, organic recorded a record growth. Organic land in the EU grew to 14.9 million ha, although at a slower rate than in the previous years. The EU organic market marked a record increase of 15.1%, reaching €44.8 billion. In the EU, more than half of organic land is concentrated in 4 countries: France, Spain, Italy and Germany. France is the new champion among EU countries and now hosts the largest organic agricultural area (2.5 million ha) - followed by Spain and Italy (with respectively 2.4 and 2.1 million ha). The highest number of organic producers is active in Italy (71,590), followed by France (53,255) and Spain (44,493). The EU market for organic reached a value of €44.8 billion, making EU the second largest market, after the USA, and followed by China. The EU’s market champion is Germany with a market valued at €15 billion, followed by France with €12.7 billion and Italy with much smaller market of €3.9 billion. For the European organic movement, improving knowledge and data collection on organic farming systems is crucial to increase organic production and consumption and achieve the targets set in the EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies. The Statistics on Agricultural Inputs and Outputs (SAIO) Regulation, currently under negotiations between the co-legislators, is an opportunity to collect more data on organic agriculture, which should allow for a better understanding of organic farming performances. A reliable and comprehensive set of data on organic production can also encourage new investors to enter the organic supply chain and accelerate conversions and market access. Looking at the organic data, Member of the European Parliament, Petros Kokkalis, rapporteur of the Regulation on Statistics on Agricultural Inputs and Outputs (SAIO) commented: "The SAIO Regulation is the opportunity to provide for precise and reliable data on organic agriculture. We need to be able to monitor and evaluate the EU target to reach 25% of agricultural land under organic farming by 2030". IFOAM Organics Europe’s Director Eduardo Cuoco added: “The growth of organic farming in the EU has been impressive up to 2020, but it is fragile as it is partly dependent on public policy support, and the current negotiations on the CAP Strategic Plans bring a lot of uncertainties. The case of France, which currently holds the Presidency of the EU Council, is striking: it now boasts the largest area of organic land in the EU, but the government’s plans to stop CAP payments rewarding organic farmers for the public goods they deliver risks putting a halt to the growth of the past years.” |