Potato production continues to show long-term downward trend
However, it is unlikely that this will be enough to reverse the long-term trend. According to statistics, potato production in the EU has been declining for some time
Slightly more potatoes were produced in the European Union in 2023. As shown by current Eurostat data, last year, a total of around 48.3 million tonnes of potatoes were harvested from fields in the Member States. This was 800 thousand tonnes, or 1.7 percent more than in 2022. However, this is unlikely to be enough to reverse the long-term trend. According to statistics, potato production in the EU has been declining for some time.
Last year, the production volume was 27.9 million tons less, or 36.7 percent less, than in 2000.
Germany is the leader in potato production
Germany was the latest leader among the Member States. According to Eurostat, 11.6 million tonnes of potatoes were cleared nationwide in 2023. This corresponded to a share of 24.0% of EU production. French farmers, with 8.6 million tonnes, had a share of 17.9%. A further 13.4% of EU production came from the Netherlands, which harvested 6.5 million tonnes of potatoes. More than half of the total volume was therefore dug up in these three Member States.
Other large potato producers
Other important producing countries in the Community were Poland, Belgium and Denmark. Polish farmers produced 5.6 million tonnes of potatoes in the reporting year, while their Belgian colleagues produced 4.1 million tonnes. According to Eurostat, production in Denmark reached 2.8 million tonnes. Spain harvested 2.0 million tonnes and Italy 1.3 million tonnes.
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