The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2006

Summary

According to the survey, currently more than 31 million hectares of farmland are under organic management worldwide, a gain of around five million hectares in a single year. A major increase of organic land has taken place in China, where nearly three million hectares of pastoral land were recently certified.
In terms of organic land, excluding wild collection, Australia leads pack with 12.1 million hectares, followed by China (3.5 million hectares) and Argentina (2.8 million hectares). Most of the world’s organic land is in Australia / Oceania (39%), followed by Europe (21 %), Latin America (20%), Asia (13%), North America (4 %) and Africa (3 %). Regarding the share of organic farmland in comparison with the total agricultural area, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries lead the way. In Switzerland, for example, more than ten percent of the agricultural land is managed organically.
In 2004, the market value of organic products worldwide reached 27.8 billion US$, (23.5 billion EUR), the largest share of organic products being marketed in Europe and North America. Ongoing growth of the market and organic land area is expected for the foreseeable future, in part due to an increased support of governments and development organizations.