“The World of Organic Agriculture” yearbook gathering global data from 2021 was launched recently by IFOAM –Organics International.
The latest data on organic farming worldwide will be presented by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and IFOAM – Organics International at BIOFACH, the world’s leading trade fair for organic food.
In 2021, organic retail sales grew by 4 billion euros and reached almost 125 billion euros. Organic farmland grew to a global total of 76.4 million hectares.
Organic farmland and retail sales both continued to show growth worldwide, according to data from 191 countries (data as of the end of 2021). Published by FiBL and IFOAM – Organics International, the 24th edition of “The World of Organic Agriculture” shows the trend of overall growth seen in past years continued into 2021, although at a slower pace.
The annual survey on global organic agriculture is supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the Sustainability Fund of Coop Switzerland, and Nürnberg Messe, organisers of the BIOFACH trade fair.
Global organic industry continues to grow, but slower
In 2021, the organic industry reached almost 125 billion euros – an increase of nearly 4 billion euros, or approximately 3 per cent compared to 2022 and thus slower than in 2020 when market growth was in the double digits.
With 48.6 billion euros, the United States continued to be the world’s leading market, followed by Germany (15.9 billion euros) and France (12.7 billion euros). Swiss consumers spent the most on organic food (425 euros per capita on average), and Denmark continued to have the highest organic market share, with 13 per cent of its total food market.
3.7 million organic producers worldwide
In 2021, 3.7 million organic producers were reported, an increase of 4.9 per cent compared to 2020. India remained the country with the most organic producers (1.6 million). The majority of small-scale producers are certified in groups based on an internal control system.
Steady increase of organic farmland
A bit more than 76.4 million hectares were organically managed at the end of 2021, representing a growth of 1.7 per cent or 1.3 million hectares compared to 2020. Australia had the largest organic agricultural area (35.7 million hectares), followed by Argentina (4.1 million hectares) and France (2.8 million hectares).
Organic farmland area increased in Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania, while it decreased in the Americas. A bit less than half of the global organic agricultural land was in Oceania (35.9 million hectares). Europe had the second largest area (17.8 million hectares), followed by Latin America (9.9 million hectares).Ten per cent or more of farmland was organic in 20 countries
In 2021, 1.6 per cent of farmland around the world was organic. However, many countries have far higher shares: Liechtenstein had the largest organic share of total farmland (40.2 per cent), followed by Samoa (29.1 per cent) and Austria (26.5 per cent). In 20 countries, 10 per cent or more of all agricultural land was organic.
Outlook
The Organic industry growth appeared to stagnate in 2022. Reduced incomes and increasing prices for many consumer goods caused some population groups to reduce their spending on organic products.
Still, momentum for the organic sector continued to build around the world. Many countries kept up or initiated support activities for organic agriculture, including new action plans or policies aiming to foster growth. This positive trend was mirrored in the increase in fully implemented national regulatory frameworks for organic, which went up to a total of 74 globally.
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