Organic farming international

landscape
Photo: BML / Alexander Haiden

Organic food production is playing a continuously increasing role all over the world. Austria is a pioneer in this field.

In the last 30 years, organic farming in the European Union has continually increased. The statistics vary between countries, strongly influenced by politics promoting organic production and consumption.

In 2019, the area under organic farming has increased to 14.6 million hectares, which is 8.1 percent of agricultural land. The number of organic producers has reached 343,000, which is a growth by 4.9 percent in comparison to 2018. The European organic retail market experienced a significant growth of 11 percent, rising to 41.5 billion euros. Each year, consumers are spending on average 84 euros per capita on organic food, which is twice as much as 10 years ago.