Organic farming of agricultural products in the European Union at the end of 2015 was conducted on more than 11 million hectares, which is 21 percent more than in 2010, according to Eurostat data, which also shows that Croatia achieved the largest increase in these areas during that period. In 2010, organic food production in Croatia took place on 16,000 hectares, and in 2015 on almost 76,000 hectares, or even 377 percent more.
Significant growth in organic farming areas also occurred during this period in Bulgaria, by 362 percent, followed by France, by 61 percent, Ireland, by 53 percent, Lithuania, by 49 percent, and Cyprus, by 48 percent. The area under organic farming increased in all member states except for Britain, where these areas decreased by 29 percent, and in the Netherlands, by 4 percent. Organic farming in the EU was conducted in 2015 on 6.2 percent of the total utilized agricultural area.
The largest share of agricultural land under organic farming is in Austria, 20 percent of total agricultural areas or 552,000 hectares. Sweden follows with a share of 17 percent or 519,000 hectares, and Estonia, 16 percent or 156,000 hectares. In Croatia, this share was 4.9 percent at the end of 2015, while at the end of 2010 it was only 1.2 percent.
The smallest share of areas under organic farming was recorded in Malta, only 0.3 percent or 30 hectares, followed by Ireland, 1.6 percent or 73,000 hectares, and Romania, 1.8 percent or 246,000 hectares. Eurostat notes that organic farming is generally less represented in plains, where a more intensive agricultural system prevails.
