France: Organic area and market continue to grow in 2010

At a press conference on May 19, 2011, Agence Bio, the Frnch Agency for organic agriculture, presented the latest figures on the sector in France.

Organic sales in France rose to 3.4 billion Euros in 2010, which is 10.8 percent up on the previous year. The organic food share of the total French food market was 2 percent. This is shown by the figures recently published by the partly state-owned Agence Bio in Paris.

The retail prices were largely steady compared with the previous year. The number of organic farmers and processors has developed very well, rising by 23 percent to 30'850, of which two-thirds are farmers (20'604). Improved organic production in the country reduced the import share in 2009 to 35 percent (2009: 38 percent).

At the end of 2010, the share of agricultural land used in France for organic farming was 3 percent and the share of farms 4 percent. The positive development is continuing and another 1'120 new organic farmers were added in the first four months of 2011.

Further information

AgenceBio.fr: Conférence de presse du 19 mai 2011: La Bio accentue son rayonnement en France