FACTS AND STATISTICS FOR THE ORGANIC FOOD IMPORTERS
While organic food accounts for 1-2% of total food sales worldwide, for the organic food importers the market is growing rapidly, far ahead of the rest of the food industry, in both developed and developing nations(Visit Agrelma to know more).
- World organic food sales jumped from US $23 billion in 2002 to $40 billion in 2006.
- The world organic market has been growing by 20% a year since the early 1990s, with future growth estimates ranging from 10-50% annually depending on the country.
North America
United States
- Organic food sales have grown by 17 to 20 percent a year for the past few years
while sales of conventional food have grown at only about 2 to 3 percent a year.
- In 2003 organic products were available in nearly 20,000 natural food stores and 73% of conventional grocery stores.
- Organic products account for 2.6% of total food sales in the year 2005.
- Two thirds of organic milk and cream and half of organic cheese and yogurt are sold through conventional supermarkets.
Canada
- Organic food sales surpassed $1 billion in 2006, accounting for 0.9% of food sales in Canada.
- Organic food sales by grocery stores were 28% higher in 2006 than in 2005.
- British Columbians account for 13% of the Canadian population, but purchased 26% of the organic food sold in Canada in 2006.
Europe (Visit Agrelma to see the last requests of organic oil)
In the European Union (EU25) 3.9% of the total utilized agricultural area is used for organic production. The countries with the highest proportion of organic land are Austria (11%) and Italy (8.4), followed by Czech Republic and Greece (both 7.2%). The lowest figures are shown for Malta (0.1%), Poland (0.6%) and Ireland (0.8%)
Austria
- 11.6% of all farmers produced organically in 2007. The government has created incentives to increase the figure to 20% by 2010.
- 4.9% of all food products sold in Austrian supermarkets (including discount stores) in 2006 were organic. 8000 different organic products were available in the same year.
Italy
- Since 2005 all school lunches must be organic by law
Poland
- In 2005 168,000 ha of land were under organic management. 7 percent of Polish consumers buy food that was produced according to the EU-Eco-regulation. The value of the organic market is estimated at 50 million Euros (2006).
UK
Organic food sales increased from just over £100 million in 1993/94 to £1.21 billion in 2004 (an 11% increase on 2003).
Caribbean
Cuba
- After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990, agricultural inputs that had previously been purchased from Eastern bloc countries were no longer available in Cuba, and many Cuban farms converted to organic methods out of necessity. Consequently, organic agriculture is a mainstream practice in Cuba, while it remains an alternative practice in most other countries. Although some products called organic in Cuba would not satisfy certification requirements in other countries (crops may be genetically modified, for example), Cuba exports organic citrus and citrus juices to EU markets that meet EU organic standards. Cuba's forced conversion to organic methods may position the country to be a global supplier of organic products.
