Organic agricultural land: leading countries worldwide 2020

In 2020, Australia was ranked first with an organic agricultural land area amounting to 35.69 million hectares. The land area used for organic agriculture in Australia is thus larger than the acreage of all the other leading countries combined. Australia is followed by Argentina and Uruguay, which each had areas of organic agriculture of approximately 4.45 and 2.74 million hectares, respectively.

Organic farming in the United States

Among the different States in the United States, the State of California has the largest number of organic farms and ranches, with approximately 3,012. California is followed by the States of Wisconsin and New York, which have about 1,300 thousand hectares each. In terms of land ownership of organic acreage, nearly 2.6 million acres of certified organic land operated in the United States was rented from others.

Organic food worldwide

Worldwide sales of organic foods have experienced constant growth during the last two decades. The United States has by far the largest share of global retail sales of organic food, with nearly 42 percent. The sales value of organic food in the United States has more than quadrupled during the last 15 years. To classify as organic, specific farming standards have to be applied during food production. The global per capita consumption of organic food is highest in Denmark and Switzerland.