Vital Signs Media Alert

For Immediate Release

July 23, 2009

Contact: Julia Tier

(+1 202) 452.1999 x594

jtier@worldwatch.org

Organic Agriculture Expands to Meet Growing Demand

Farmers managed 32.3 million hectares of organic agricultural land worldwide in 2007, a 118-percent increase since 2000. This rapidly growing practice appears in 141 countries but still accounts for less than 1 percent of the world’s agricultural land.

According to the latest Vital Signs analysis on organic agriculture:

· Consumer demand led to $46 billion in global sales of organic food and drink products in 2007, with average annual growth of $5 billion over the last decade. The United States and European Union account for 97 percent of the global revenue stream.

· Asia’s organic food market is experiencing double-digit growth rates of 15–20 percent per year, fueled in part by food safety concerns. China is home to more than half of the region’s 2.8 million hectares of organically managed land. India follows closely with more than 1 million hectares.

· Many organic product labels are now owned by large companies as market supply chains continue to consolidate. Analysts highlight growing trends in the number of highly processed organic foods, in global sourcing rather than local, and in the quantity of organic products that are traded internationally.

This new organic agriculture update includes the latest figures on organic agricultural area globally and by continent from 2000 to 2007.

Read the Vital Signs analysis, “Organic Agriculture More than Doubled Since 2000.”

Complete trends will soon be available with full endnote referencing, Excel spreadsheets, and customizable presentation-ready charts as part of our new subscription service, Vital Signs Online, slated to launch this fall.

Julia Tier

Communications Associate

Worldwatch Institute

jtier@worldwatch.org