The UK organic farming and organic market in figures

Key UK organic statistics, December 2006[1]:   Production • Over the last 10 years the area of land under organic management in the UK has increased 10-fold, growing from just 60,000 ha in April 1997 to 619,783 ha in December 2006 • The total area of organically managed land (incorporating in-conversion and fully organic land) remained similar between December 2005 and December 2006; o Fully organic land area in the UK decreased by 7.0% to 498,646 ha in December 2006, from 533,902 ha in December 2005 o The area of in-conversion land increased by 41% between December 2005 and December 2006 to 121,137 ha • The number of registered organic producers has increased by 8%between December 2005 and December 2006 to 4,639

Processing/ transport, etc

• The number of registered organic processors has increased by 13 % to 2,404 in December 2006 Sales

• Retail sales of organic products continued to increase in 2006, and were worth an estimated £1,937 million in 2006.

o Direct sales of organic food through box schemes, farmers' markets and farm shops grew by 54% to £146 million during 2006

o Sales of organic products sold through supermarkets increased by 21% in the same time period

o Imports of organic produce sold by some supermarkets increased by 1% from 46% in 2003 to 47% in 2005 and reduced to 34% in 2006.

For more detailed information follow the links below:

• Organic Land area in the UK

• Land by nation

• Key sectors of organic production in UK

• Organic Food sales and marketing

Further UK data is available at:

Further UK data is available at: To access DEFRA organic statistics please click here or telephone 020 7533 5888 To purchase a copy of the Soil Associations 'Organic Market Report 2007', please telephone 0117 914 2433 or visit www.soilassociation.org. For further information on the report's contents please contact Sally Williamson, swilliamson@soilassociation.org.To access DEFRA organic statistics please click here or telephone 020 7533 5888

To purchase a copy of the Soil Associations 'Organic Market Report 2007', please telephone 0117 914 2433 or visit www.soilassociation.org. For further information on the report's contents please contact Sally Williamson, swilliamson@soilassociation.org.

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[1] Information is taken from the DEFRA organic statistics January 2007 and the Soil Association’s ‘Organic Market Report 2007’.
 

Organic land area in the UK

By December 2006, 619,783 ha of agricultural land in the UK were managed organically. This represents 3.6 % of UK farmland on 4,639 organic farms. The area has remained similar to last year. However, the area of in-conversion land in the UK increased by 40% in 2006. Of the 619,783 ha, 498,646 ha (80 %) were fully organic, the remaining 121,137 ha (20 %) being in conversion.  Figure 1 shows the changes in the area under organic management between 2002 and 2006. For more information about the amount of organic land per nation follow the link

Figure 1: Organically managed land in the UK, December 1998 to December 2006 (ha)

Figure 2: Organically managed land in the UK, December 2002 to December 2006 (ha)

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The number of registered organic producers has increased by 8 per cent between December 2005 and December 2006, to 4,639 (see figure 3). Organic holdings represent 1.3 per cent of all agricultural holdings in the UK. 

The number of registered organic processors has increased by 13 % to 2,404 in December 2006 .This is encouraging as it indicates that consumer demand for high quality organic products continues to grow.  

Figure 3: Number of registered organic producers in the UK, April 1997 to December 2006

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Organic land by nation:

Within the UK, England is the nation with the largest area of organically managed land - a total of 296,385 ha - 48 % of the UK’s total. Wales has the highest percentage of agricultural land managed organically, 5.5%, followed by Scotland with 4.2% (see Figure 4). The organically managed land in Scotland has reduced enormously in recent years, from 428,608 at the end of 2002end 2002 to 235,298 at the end of 2006end 2006

Figure 4: Organically managed land in the UK, by nation, between December 2002 to December 2006 (proportion of total land area)

At the end of  2006, England had 296,385 ha of organically managed land. The area has increased by 2% between December 2005 and December 2006 and by 18% over the last 4 years.

The area of organically managed land in Wales increased by 11%, to 78,973 ha, out performing every other nation in the UK – Wales now has 12.7 % of the UK’s total organically managed land. For more detailed information on organic land in Wales click here.

Northern Ireland has seen a 4% decrease in the area of land under organic management between December 2005 and December 2006, to 9,127 ha. This still represents an increase of 62% over the last 4 years.  Organically managed land in Northern Ireland now accounts for 1.5 % of the total organically managed land in the UK.

For more details see the Table below

Table 1: National distribution of organically managed land in the UK, December 2002 to December 2006

Source: DEFRA, 2007

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Key sectors of organic production in UK

A total of 525,269 ha, representing 84.8% of the total organically managed land area, is grassland, of which 80% is permanent pasture and 20% is temporary pasture. The area under permanent grassland decreased in 2006.

 The biggest increase in organic production by sector was the area under herbs and ornamentals. This increased by 395% in the last 4 years to 615 ha in December 2006. The area of fully organic fruit and vegetables grew between December 2005 and December 2006 by? 9%, fruit and nuts by 4 % and woodland by 20%. In the same time period, the area of set aside decreased by 42%.

The Figure below shows the changes  in the areas grown of the different sectors between 2003 and 2006. (see also table 2 for data)

Figure 5.  Fully organic land by sector, end 2002-end 2006 (x 1,000 hectares)[1]

[1] Please note that UK horticulture figures include peas, beans, turnip, Swedes and kale for fodder and combining

UK organic horticultural land is increasing but not at the same rate as the market. It is predicted that UK self sufficiency (which has increased to 62% over the last four to five years will fall away as imports increase to fill the widening gap between UK production and UK consumption. (see also market review, 2007)

The latest organic statistics data from DEFRA (2007) show that the area under organic arable production decreased by 6% to 43,945 ha in December 2006.

The figure below gives an overview of the livestock, pig and poultry sectors in the different nations within the UK. England produces the majority of animals. However, Wales produces almost an equal amount of sheep to England and Northern Ireland contributes more than a quarter to the UK Poultry production.

Figure 6a Cattle  production by nation 2003 - 2006

Fig 6b. Sheep  production by nation 2003 - 2006

Fig 6c. Pig  production by nation 2003 - 2006

Fig 6d. Poultry  production by nation 2003 - 2006

Table 2: Organically managed land in the UK, April 2003s to December 2006 by enterprise  [1]