October 2009, BioFach press release): In 2007, 32 million ha were farmed organically throughout the world and sales of organic food were 46 billion US dollars. This figure should have topped the 50 billion US dollars mark in 2008.
According to the latest figures from the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), both the organic areas and markets grew strongly again at international level in 2008. “The organic area in Europe has risen from 7.8 to 8.3 million ha, which is 6 % more,” says Helga Willer of FiBL. The provisional figures for the EU countries show that the area has increased from 7.2 to 7.7 million ha. Spain registered the biggest growth with 33 %, and the area of organic land grew by 10 % in Poland, the Czech Republic and Denmark. The organic area in Italy decreased, but is still more than 1 million ha. However, the country with the most organic land in Europe is now Spain with 1.3 million ha, of which 1.1 million ha are farming land. Only a few figures are available for countries outside Europe. In Argentina, for example, the area has risen by 40 % from 2.9 to 4 million ha, including a very large share of grassland.
Although the growth in sales of organic food and drinks has slowed down in 2009, growth is still apparent,” says Amarjit Sahota of market researcher Organic Monitor in London. “The biggest growth is in Europe and North America, but demand is also increasing in the Asia-Pacific region and in Latin America,” the internationally recognized organic expert continues.
Source: Helga Willer, FiBL
Links
- FiBL.org: Organic farming statistics
- FiBL.org: FiBL at BioFach
- Organic-World.Net: The World of Organic Agriculture 2009
- Organic-World.Net: Graphs and Power Point Presentations
- Organic-World.net: Oranic farming and markets world-wide
Note
Data collection on organic farming world-wide and the publication of the yearbook has been funded by NürnbergMesse, the organiszers of the BioFach organic trade fair since 2000. Since 2008 funding in order to extend and enhance data collection has also been made available by the International Trade Centre ITC and the Swiss state secretariat of Economic Affairs SECO.
The lastest data on organic agriculture world-wide will be presented at the next BioFach Congress in February 2010.
As every year, FiBL will have a stand at BioFach, in hall 1. More information will be available soon at www.biofach.fibl.org.