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In the EU25¹ in 2005, the organic area² made up 3.9% of the total utilised agricultural area³. The highest proportions of organic area were recorded in Austria (11.0%), Italy (8.4%), the Czech Republic and Greece (both 7.2%) and the lowest in Malta (0.1%), Poland (0.6%) and Ireland (0.8%). Looking at a longer time frame, for which EU15 data is available, the proportion of organic area in the total utilised agricultural area has increased from 1.8% in 1998 to 4.1% in 2005.

In the EU25 in 2005, 6.1 million hectares of land were used as organic areas. Italy (1.1 million hectares or 17% of the EU25 total) had the largest part of the organic area, followed by Germany and Spain (both 0.8 million hectares or 13%).

On the occasion of the Green Week 2007, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, publishes a report on organic farming⁴ within the EU.

Less than 2% of all holdings are organic

Overall in the EU25, 1.6% of all agricultural holdings were organic holdings. In nearly all the Member States of the EU25 in 2005, the average size of these organic holdings was larger than for all holdings: 39 hectares (ha) per organic holding, compared with 16 ha per holding on average. The largest organic holdings were found in Slovakia (463 ha per holding), the Czech Republic (305 ha), Portugal (148 ha) and the United Kingdom (142 ha).

Areas under conversion vary greatly between Member States

Organic areas include fully converted and under conversion areas². Before being considered as fully converted, all areas need to have a period of time during which they are undergoing the conversion process. The proportion of area under conversion in the total organic area varied among the Member States from less than 10% in Denmark (1%), the Netherlands (4%), Finland (8%) and Sweden (9%) to more than 80% in Malta (100%), Cyprus (87%) and Latvia (83%).

Organic area and organic holdings, 2005

EU25 data exclude Estonia
* 2004: Luxembourg and Poland
** 2004: Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hungary and Poland

: Data not available

1. Bulgaria and Romania, who became members of the EU on 1 January 2007, were not obliged to supply data for the time period covered in this News Release (2005).
2. Organic farming can be defined as a method of production which places the highest emphasis on environmental protection and, with regard to livestock production, animal welfare considerations. It avoids or largely reduces the use of synthetic chemical inputs such as fertilisers, pesticides, additives and medicinal products. Organic area: fully converted and under conversion areas. An organic product, either crop, animal or animal product, is certified as fully organic if it has been sowed or bred using the methods established by Regulation 2092/91. This Regulation also establishes transitional periods to certify a crop, animal or animal product as "fully organic". During this period, which varies by type of crop and animal, the area, crop, animal or animal product are said to be "under conversion".
3. The Utilised Agricultural Area (UAA) is the total area taken up by arable land, permanent grassland, permanent crops and kitchen gardens.
4. Eurostat, Statistics in Focus, Agriculture and Fisheries, 69/2007 "Different organic farming patterns within EU25", which can be downloaded in PDF format from the Eurostat website.

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