The growth of organic farming in Germany surpassed the average in 2016. The increase of acreage is especially high: In 2016, organic foods were produced on 1,251,320 hectares - an increase of 14.9% compared to the previous year (2015: 1,088,828 hectares). The number of farms producing organically was 27,132, about 9.6% more than in 2015 (24,736).
The minister for agriculture Christian Schmidt explained the data at the time of its publication: "The area used for organic farming in Germany has never been as high as last year. The number of farms producing organically has also reached a record-high. There has been a clear tendency over the last years, organic farming has become an important part of Germany agriculture and the food industry, alongside conventional farming. This success should not be slowed down. I want to keep on supporting the potential for growth that this sector has. My goal is to reach 20% of organically cultivated farmland, so we can meet the increasing demand for organic products with domestic supply."
The number of businesses processing organic products has risen as well. There was a 2% increase to 9,499 companies, compared to 9,311 in 2015. Overall, 41,200 businesses were working in the bio-sector in 2016, an increase of 7.7%. Compared to the total acreage for agriculture in Germany, organic farming held about 7.5%.