The positive trend seen in the past years continues: Consumer demand is increasing, reflected in the significant market growth of 11% in the US, the world’s largest organic market. More farmers cultivate organically, more land is certified organic, and 172 countries report organic farming activities (up from 170) as shown in the 2016 edition of the study “The World of Organic Agriculture” (data per end of 2014), published by FiBL and IFOAM – Organics International.
The global organic market is growing
The market research company Organic Monitor estimates the global market for organic food in 2014 to have reached 80 billion US Dollars (more than 60 billion Euros). The United States is the leading market with 27.1 billion Euros, followed by Germany (7.9 billion Euros), France (4.8 billion Euros), and China (3.7 billion Euros). In 2014, the Swedish organic market experienced an unprecedented growth, increasing by more than 40 percent – a remarkable rate for an already well-established market. The highest per capita spending was in Switzerland (221 Euros) and Luxembourg (164 Euros).
More than two million producers
Reaching a new all-time high, 2.3 million organic producers were reported in 2014. As in previous years, the countries with the most producers were India (650’000), Uganda (190’552) and Mexico (169’703).
43.7 million hectares of organic farmland
A total of 43.7 million hectares were organically managed at the end of 2014, representing a growth of almost 0.5 million hectares on the previous survey (2013 data). Australia is the country with the largest organic agricultural area (17.2 million hectares, with 97% of that area used for grazing), followed by Argentina (3.1 million hectares) and the United States of America (2.2 million hectares). 40% of the global organic agricultural land is in Oceania (17.3 million hectares), followed by Europe (27%; 11.6 million hectares) and Latin America (15%; 6.8 million hectares).
More than 10% of farmland is organic in 11 countries
The countries with the largest share of organic agricultural land of their total farmland are the Falkland Islands (36.3%), Liechtenstein (30.9%) and Austria (19.4%). In eleven countries more than 10% of all agricultural land is organic.
