According to preliminary data from the German Federal Agricultural Information Center (BZL), each German citizen consumed 20.3 kilograms of fresh table potatoes (down 3.7 kilograms) and 35.8 kilograms of potato products, such as French fries, potato salad or chips (up 200 grams) in marketing year 2021/22.
This means that overall, per capita consumption of potatoes was 56.1 kilograms. So the trend, which was reversed at the start of the pandemic, is now continuing: more potato products and fewer fresh potatoes are being consumed once again. Possible reasons include fewer Covid lockdowns and a warm and very sunny spring in 2022, which may have led to further increases in out-of-home consumption.
Self-sufficiency rate up to 150 percent
In the 2021/22 marketing year, which covers the period from July 2021 to June 2022, domestic production met 150 percent of domestic potato demand. This is an increase of seven percentage points compared to the previous year.
Netherlands is most important trading partner
Due to production volumes and large processing capacities, exports of potatoes and potato products play an essential role for the potato industry in Germany. A total of around 6 million metric tons of potatoes were exported as fresh produce or in the form of processed products in the 2021/22 marketing year.
This contrasted with imports of around 2.5 million tons. It means that Germany is a net exporter of potatoes and related products. In terms of volume, the most important trading partner for imports and exports is the Netherlands. The proximity of the processing sites of the German and Dutch potato industries plays a key role in mutual trade in table potatoes.
The supply balance as well as the report on the market and supply situation for potatoes are available (in German) on the website of the Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung, BLE), where the BZL is located: www.ble.de/kartoffeln.