Growth Continues: Global Organic Market at 72 Billion
US Dollars with 43 Million Hectares of Organic
Agricultural Land Worldwide
(Bonn/Frick/Nürnberg February 10, 2015) The positive trend of the past continues:
Consumer demand increases, reflected in the significant market growth of 11.5% in the
US, the world’s largest organic market. More farmers cultivate organically, more land is
certified organic, and 170 countries report organic farming activities (up from 164) as
shown in the 2015 edition of the FiBL-IFOAM study “The World of Organic Agriculture”.
(Data per end of 2013).
Global Market is Growing
Market research company Organic Monitor estimates the global market for organic
products in 2013 to have reached 72 billion US Dollars (approximately 55 billion euros).
The United States is the leading market with 24.3 billion euros, followed by Germany (7.6
billion euros) and France (4.4 billion euros). In 2013 official market data was for the first
time ever published for China (2.4 billion euros), making the country the fourth biggest
organic market in the world. The highest per capita spending was in Switzerland (210
euros) and Denmark (163 euros).
“We are very pleased to see the recent excellent growth worldwide”, states Markus
Arbenz, executive director of IFOAM - Organics International. “The positive environmental,
social and economic impacts of the sector in the global in the global South and North
confirm the sector’s importance as a lighthouse.”
Two Million Producers
Reaching a new all-time high, two million organic producers were reported in 2013. As in
previous years, the countries with the highest number of producers were India (650’000),
Uganda (189’610) and Mexico (169’703).
43.1 Million Hectares of Organic Farmland
A total of 43.1 million hectares were organic at the end of 2013, representing a growth of
almost 6 million hectares compared to the previous survey. In Oceania, organic land
increased by a 42%, which was mainly due to rangeland areas shifting to organic
production in Australia. Australia is the country with the largest organic agricultural area
(17.2 million hectares, with 97% of that area used as grazing), followed by Argentina (3.2
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%; 11.5 million hectares), and Latin America (15%; 6.6 million hectares).
More than 10% of Farmland Organic in 11 Countries
The countries with the largest share of organic agricultural land of their total farmland are
the Falkland Islands (36.3%), followed by Liechtenstein (31%) and Austria (19.5%). In
eleven countries more than 10% of all agricultural land is organic.
More information
Data collection
The data on organic agriculture are collected annually by the Research Institute of Organic
Agriculture (FiBL); in collaboration with IFOAM – Organics International and further partners. The
activities are supported by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the
International Trade Centre (ITC), and NürnbergMesse, the organizers of the BIOFACH fair.
Data collection in Europe was carried out in the framework of the OrganicDataNetwork project
“Data network for better European organic market information” (OrganicDataNetwork, 7th
Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development of the European Union).
Contacts
•
Dr. Helga Willer, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse, 5070
Frick, Switzerland, Tel.+41 (0)79 2180626, Fax +41 (0)62 8657273, helga.willer(at)fibl.org;
www.fibl.org
•
Markus Arbenz, IFOAM – Organics International, Charles-de-Gaulle-Strasse 5, 53113
Bonn, Germany, Tel. +49 (0)160 8041557, Fax +49 (0)228 9265099,
m.arbenz(at)ifoam.bio; www.ifoam.bio
Graphs
Development of the number of countries with data on organic agriculture
Source: FiBL-­‐IFOAM-­‐SOEL surveys 1999-­‐2015
180
160
140
140
Countries
77
161
164
135
121
97
100
80
122
110
120
155
170
162
161
100
86
60
40
20
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
The ten countries with the largest markets for organic food 2013
Source: FiBL-­‐AMI-­‐OrganicDataNetwork survey 2015
United States of America
24'347
Germany
7'550
France
4'380
China
2'430
Canada
2'375
United Kingdom
2'065
Italy
2'020
Switzerland
1'668
Austria
1'065
Sweden
1'018
0
5'000
10'000
15'000
20'000
Retail sales in million Euros
25'000
30'000
The ten countries with the highest per capita consumption 2013
Source: FiBL-­‐AMI-­‐OrganicDataNetwork survey 2015
Switzerland
210
Denmark
163
Luxembourg
157
Liechtenstein
129
Austria
127
Sweden
106
Germany
93
US
77
Canada
71
Norway
44
0
50
100
150
Per capita consumption in euros
200
250
The ten countries with the largest numbers of organic producers 2013
Source: FiBL-­‐IFOAM survey 2015
India
650'000
Uganda (2012)
189'610
Mexico
169'703
Tanzania
148'610
Ethiopia (2012)
134'626
Turkey
65'042
Peru
52'284
Italy
45'969
Spain
30'502
Poland (2012)
25'944
0
200'000
400'000
600'000
Number of producers
800'000
Growth of the organic agricultural land 1999-­‐2013
Source: FiBL-­‐IFOAM-­‐SOEL-­‐Surveys 1999-­‐2015
50
43.1
45
40
34.4
Million hectares
35
29.8 29.0 30.1
30
37.5
36.3 36.0 37.4
31.5
25.7
25
20
15
14.9
17.2
19.8
11.0
10
5
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Growth of the organic agricultural land by continent 1999-­‐2013
Source: FiBL-­‐IFOAM-­‐SOEL-­‐Surveys 1999-­‐2015
20
17.3
18
16
Million hectares
14
11.5
12
10
8
6
4
6.6
5.3
3.7
3.4
3.0
1.2
1.2
0.7
0 0.0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
2
Africa
Asia
Europe
Latin America
North America
Oceania
The ten countries with the largest areas of organic agricultural land 2013
Source: FiBL-­‐IFOAM survey 2015
Australia
17.2
Argentina
3.2
US (2011)
2.2
China
2.1
Spain
1.6
Italy
1.3
France
1.1
Germany
1.1
Uruguay (2006)
0.9
Canada
0.9
0
5
10
Million hectares
15
20
Countries with more than 10 percent of organic agricultural land 2013
Source: FiBL-­‐IFOAM survey 2015
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Liechtenstein
Austria
Sweden
Estonia
Switzerland
French Guiana (France)
Samoa (2012)
Czech Republic
Latvia
Italy
36.3%
31.0%
19.5%
16.3%
16.0%
12.2%
11.9%
11.8%
11.2%
11.0%
10.3%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
Share of total agricultural land 35%
40%
Development of the organic land by land use type 2004-­‐2013
Source: FiBL-­‐IFOAM-­‐SOEL-­‐Surveys 1999-­‐2015
30
Million hectares
25
27.0
21.8
20
20.0 20.4 20.0
23.1 22.6 22.6
22.3 22.9
Arable crops
Permanent crops
15
Permanent grassland
10
5
4.0
4.6
4.9
5.6
3.4
4.3
6.1
0.9
1.2
1.4
1.9
2.0
2.5
2.6
7.2
7.4
7.7
2.9
3.2
3.2
0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013