Organic Agriculture growth in the world
IFOAM, the Swiss Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and the Foundation Ecology and Agriculture, published in 2006, updated BioFach organic agriculture data. In this study, ecologically currently operate more than 31 million hectares worldwide, equivalent to an increase of five million hectares in a single year. China has been a significant growth with nearly three million hectares of pasture recently certified. As for the absolute numbers, Australia continues to lead the world with 12.1 million hectares, not including the surface of wild collections. Bio surfaces are distributed as follows: Australia / Oceania 39 %, followed by Europe with 21 %, Latin America 20 %, Asia 13 %, North America 4% and Africa 3%.
According to Amarjit Sahota, Organic Monitor (London), the global market for organic products reached 27.8 billion dollars in 2004 ( 23.5 billion euros) and is expected to surpass 30 billion on the 2005. The market is currently growing by 8-9 % per year, North America and Western Europe remain the key drivers of this growth.