2023 has been a favorable year for the Spanish organic market, which reached €3 billion, as revealed by the “Annual Report 2024: Organic Consumption and Production” from Ecovalia. The report highlights the upward trend of the organic sector in both consumption and production.
In this regard, the report emphasizes that Andalusia and Catalonia are the Spanish autonomous communities that stand out in organic consumption. Globally, the United States leads with €58.566 billion, followed by Germany (€15.310 billion). It is noteworthy that European countries lead per capita spending globally, with Switzerland ranking first (€437), followed by Denmark (€365), and Austria (€274). In Spain, spending amounts to €64 per capita per year.
In the organic shopping basket, the average price of animal-derived products has reached €7.82, and that of plant-derived products is €2.60. Organic foods are more stable against inflation than conventional ones, as the price of conventional foods has grown 23% higher than organic ones.
An interesting fact is that Spaniards prefer large retailers to buy organic products (50%), compared to specialized stores (34%) and other channels (16%).
Production Increases by 60% in the Last Decade
Looking at the surface area data, Spanish production has grown by over 60% in the last decade. Europe accounts for 18,450,355 hectares or 19% of its surface area. Ahead, only Oceania with 55%.
Spain already has 2,675,331 hectares, with Andalusia (50%), Castilla-La Mancha (16%), and Catalonia (9%) maintaining their leading positions nationally. Regarding the Utilized Agricultural Area, Spain has reached 11%.
Regarding crops in our country, 29% of Spanish nuts are organic, 16% of vineyards, or 10% of olive groves. The area of nuts reaches 290,086 hectares, followed by olive groves (262,379 hectares), and cereals (242,721 hectares).
As for industrial activities, which have grown by 23% in the last five years, Spain has 10,959 companies. 85% are in plant production compared to 15% in animal production.
Álvaro Barrera, president of Ecovalia, explained that “the organic sector continues on the path of growth despite challenging times. Encouraging consumption is key to further developing organic production in Spain. We must work to increase per capita consumption of organic foods among Spaniards and work to ensure that consumers recognize the organic label, the green leaf, as the paradigm of food sustainability, backed by an official system.”
Source: Financial Food