In 2025, agricultural businesses in Germany harvested a total of 4.5 million tons of vegetables. This was 8.1% more than in 2024 and 13.2% more than the average for the years 2019 to 2024. The harvest volume was thus at its highest level since the time study began in 1990. As the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) further reports, the total of 5,960 vegetable-producing businesses expanded the area under cultivation for vegetables by 3.9% compared to 2024, to 131,700 hectares. This was 3.6% more than the multi-year average (2019 to 2024).
Open field cultivation grew by 4%
In 2025, vegetables were grown on a total of around 130,400 hectares of open land. This corresponded to an increase in area of 3.9% compared to the previous year. The largest areas of open-field cultivation in 2025 were in North Rhine-Westphalia with 28,600 hectares, followed by Lower Saxony with 26,500 hectares, Bavaria with 17,500 hectares, and Rhineland-Palatinate with 16,000 hectares.
Onions become the most important vegetable for the first time
With around 903,300 tons in 2025 (+21.4% compared to 2024), onions were the vegetable with the largest harvest in Germany for the first time since 1990. The vegetable with the second-largest harvest volume was carrots with 865,700 tons (+1.8%), followed by white cabbage with 507,500 tons (+18.8%) and pickling cucumbers with 197,600 tons (-7.5%).
With the largest cultivation area since 1990, onions also ranked first in 2025 with 19,770 hectares (+11.7% compared to 2024) in open fields, followed by asparagus with 19,220 hectares of productive area (-2.8%) and carrots with 14,190 hectares (+2.9%). These were followed by white cabbage with 6,500 hectares (+5.6%) and edible pumpkins with 5,750 hectares (+9.5%).
16% of the total vegetable cultivation area was organically farmed
In 2025, organic farms produced a total of 597,000 tons of vegetables on around 20,600 hectares. This corresponds to 15.6% of the total vegetable cultivation area and 13.2% of the total harvest. Compared to 2024, the organically farmed area increased by 6.4% and the associated harvest volume by 12.6%. Compared to the average for the years 2019 to 2024, there was an increase of 17.3% in the organic area under cultivation for vegetables and 33.7% in the harvest volume.
In 2025, carrots continued to account for the largest area of organic vegetable cultivation, with 3,340 hectares. Edible pumpkins were grown on 2,200 hectares and onions on 2,150 hectares, followed by beetroot with a cultivation area of 1,790 hectares. Organic production accounted for a particularly high proportion of the total harvest in the case of beetroot (48.7%), edible pumpkins (35.6%), zucchini (34.9%), and fresh peas (30.5%).
Tomatoes and cucumbers dominate greenhouse cultivation
The cultivation of vegetables under high walk-in protective covers, for example, in greenhouses or under high plastic covers, increased only slightly in 2025 compared to the previous year, to 1,250 hectares (+0.8%). The harvest volume increased by 4.3% to 219,200 tons. Tomatoes accounted for the largest harvest in protected cultivation with 108,600 tons (+0.5%). The vegetable with the second-largest harvest was cucumber with 66,700 tons (-2.7%), followed by bell peppers with 18,500 tons (+12.2%).
Under high protective coverings, the share of organic vegetable cultivation area was 24.0% (300 hectares), about 8 percentage points higher than in open fields. The harvest volume of 33,800 tons accounted for 15.4% of the total harvest volume in organic vegetable cultivation.
Source: Destatis
