Accredited official statistics

Organic farming statistics 2023: England

Published 9 May 2024

This release presents final estimates of the land area farmed organically, crop areas, livestock numbers and numbers of organic producers and processors in England for 2023. An overview of organic farming in the UK is available here. The results are produced from data compiled by approved organic certification bodies. The total organic area referred to is made up of fully organic land and organic land in-conversion.

The data set for this release can be found on the organic farming statistics page.

1. Key findings for England

In 2023:

  • 297 thousand hectares were farmed organically in England.

  • The South West had the greatest share of organic land in England at 47%, the South East (incl. London) had the second largest at 15% and the West Midlands had the third largest at 11%.

  • Permanent pasture (including rough grazing) accounted for 48% of organic land in England, covering 144 thousand hectares.

  • 15% of organic land in England was used to grow cereals (43 thousand hectares).

  • 4.2% of cattle in England were reared organically.

  • There were a total of 3,882 organic operators in England.

2. Organic land area

2.1 Land area farmed organically

In 2023, England had a total area of 297 thousand hectares of land farmed organically, a decrease of 4.8% compared to 2022. The total area includes both the fully converted area and area under conversion.

Organic production comes from fully converted land, which is land that has undergone conversion to meet organic standards. In 2023, England had 279 thousand hectares of fully organic land. This represents a decrease of 4.6% from 2022.

Land in-conversion is discussed in detail in section 2.2.

Figure 1: Land area farmed organically in England (thousand hectares)

Year In-conversion Fully organic Total
2014 12.5 295.7 308.1
2015 10.0 293.7 303.7
2016 14.7 281.8 296.5
2017 19.8 280.5 300.3
2018 20.3 269.0 289.3
2019 19.0 281.6 300.6
2020 20.4 281.3 301.8
2021 25.8 285.4 311.2
2022 19.6 292.7 312.4
2023 18.3 279.1 297.5

Notes:

  1. Please note, the colours for the fully organic (turquoise) and in-conversion (dark blue) bars have reversed compared to the Organic Farming Statistics, 2022 stats notice.

Table 1: Area farmed organically by English region, 2023 (thousand hectares)

Country Area in-conversion Fully organic area Total organic area Total area on agricultural holdings at June Total organic area as % of June area
England 18.3 279.1 297.5 8,999 3.3%
North East 1.4 23.1 24.5 606 4.0%
North West 0.8 11.3 12.1 941 1.3%
Yorkshire and the Humber 0.8 10.3 11.1 1,125 1.0%
East Midlands 2.9 12.1 15.0 1,172 1.3%
West Midlands 1.8 30.9 32.7 912 3.6%
East of England 0.9 17.8 18.8 1,397 1.3%
South East (incl. London) 2.6 40.7 43.3 1,099 3.9%
South West 7.1 132.9 139.9 1,746 8.0%

Notes:

  1. Total land area on agricultural holdings at June. Excludes common land.

Source: June Survey of Agriculture as at 1 June 2023.

2.2 Land in-conversion

Before an area can be considered as fully organic, it must undergo a conversion process. In 2023, England had 18 thousand hectares of land in-conversion. This constitutes a decrease of 6.7% from 2022.

The area in-conversion expressed as a percentage of the total organic area can give an indication of the potential growth in the organic sector. In 2023, land in-conversion made up 6.2% of the total organic land in England. This was a decrease of 0.1 percentage points from 2022.

Figure 2: Land in-conversion as a proportion of the total area farmed organically in England

Download the data for this figure

Text description of Figure 2: Figure 2 shows the area of land in-conversion as a proportion of total land area farmed organically in England from 2002 to 2023. The percentage of land in-conversion in England peaked in 2002, with the lowest percentage occurring in 2015. Since 2021, the area of in-conversion land has fallen steadily year on year.

3. Organic land use

3.1 Organic land use

Permanent pasture (including rough grazing) accounts for the biggest share of the organic area in England (48%), followed by temporary pasture (25%) and cereals (15%). The full breakdown of organic land use in England is shown in figure 3 and tables 2 and 3.

Figure 3: Organic land use in England, 2023 (thousand hectares)

Use Area (thousand hectares)
Permanent pasture (incl. rough grazing) 143.6
Temporary pasture 74.0
Cereals 43.2
Woodland 11.3
Other arable crops 9.3
Vegetables (incl. potatoes) 8.3
Unutilised & unknown 5.1
Fruit & nuts 2.1
Herbaceous & ornamentals 0.5

Notes:

  1. Some land areas are provided without a crop category or land use description, therefore these are classified as unknown.

Table 2: Organic land use in England, 2020 to 2023 (thousand hectares)

Use 2020 2021 2022 2023 Percentage change 2023/2022
Cereals 36.4 39.9 42.7 43.2 1.2%
Other arable crops 7.3 8.7 8.6 9.3 7.1%
Fruit & nuts 1.9 2.3 2.2 2.1 -1.9%
Vegetables (incl. potatoes) 7.7 7.9 8.4 8.3 -0.4%
Herbaceous & ornamentals 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.5 -20%
Temporary pasture 77.6 79.4 77.4 74.0 -4.4%
Permanent pasture (incl. rough grazing) 153.3 154.5 155.5 143.6 -7.6%
Woodland 11.4 11.8 11.5 11.3 -1.9%
Unutilised land 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.2 -10%
Unknown 4.4 4.7 4.1 3.9 -4.4%
Total 301.8 311.2 312.4 297.5 -4.8%

Notes:

  1. Includes fully organic land and land in-conversion.

  2. Some land areas are provided without a crop category or land use description, therefore these are classified as unknown.

Table 3: Detailed fully organic and in-conversion land use in England, 2023 (thousand hectares)

Use Area in-conversion Fully organic area Total organic area Total area on agricultural holdings at June Total organic area as % of June area
Cereals 2.9 40.4 43.2 2,568 1.7%
Wheat 1.6 16.7 18.2 1,580 1.2%
Barley 0.6 4.5 5.2 799 0.6%
Oats 0.3 13.3 13.6 134 10%
Other cereals 0.3 5.9 6.2 55 11%
Other arable crops 1.0 8.3 9.3 1,039 0.9%
Sugar beet 0.0 0.3 0.3 99 0.3%
Fodder, forage and silage 0.8 7.2 8.1 57 14%
Maize, oilseeds & protein crops 0.2 0.7 0.9 883 0.1%
Fruit & nuts 0.3 1.9 2.1 29 7.4%
Vegetables 0.5 6.5 7.1 77 9.1%
Potatoes [low] 1.2 1.3 82 1.5%
Herbaceous & ornamentals [low] 0.4 0.5 9 5.3%
Temporary pasture 4.9 69.1 74.0 803 9.2%
Permanent pasture (excl. rough grazing) 8.0 129.5 137.5 3,097 4.4%
Rough grazing 0.1 6.0 6.1 440 1.4%
Woodland 0.5 10.8 11.3 398 2.8%
Unutilised land 0.1 1.2 1.2 [x] [x]
Unknown 0.1 3.8 3.9 [x] [x]
Total 18.3 279.1 297.5 [x] [x]

Notes:

  1. Total land area on agricultural holdings at June. Excludes common land.

  2. Some land areas are provided without a crop category or land use description, therefore these are classified as unknown.

  3. “[x]” indicates no comparable June survey data is available.

  4. “[low]” indicates a value that is greater than zero, but shows as zero due to rounding. See the accompanying dataset for the unrounded value.

Source: June Survey of Agriculture as at 1 June 2023.

3.2 Organic crops

The three main crop types grown organically are cereals, other arable crops and vegetables (including potatoes). In England the area of organically grown cereal crops increased by 1.2% to 43 thousand hectares in 2023. Other arable crops increased by 7.1% to 9.3 thousand hectares. The area of organically grown vegetables (including potatoes) decreased by 0.4% to 8.3 thousand hectares in 2023.

Figure 4: Organic crops in England

Notes:

  1. Includes fully organic land and land in-conversion.

Download the data for this figure

Text description of Figure 4: Figure 4 shows the area of land, in thousand hectares, used to organically farm cereals, other arable crops and vegetables (including potatoes) from 2002 to 2023. Cereals have the highest area of organic farming, which peaked in 2009. From this peak, the organic area used to farm cereals declined until 2018, since when it has increased steadily year on year. Other arable crops and vegetables (including potatoes) have had similar areas of organic farming throughout the time series. Other arable crops peaked in 2002 and vegetables peaked in 2008.

4. Organic livestock

Table 4: Detailed organic livestock numbers in England, 2023 (thousand head)

Livestock Total organic livestock Total livestock at June Organic livestock as % of June livestock
Cattle 212 5,082 4.2%
For slaughter 92 1,850 4.9%
Dairy cows 40 1,862 2.2%
Other cattle 80 1,370 5.8%
Sheep 295 14,451 2.0%
Breeding females 164 6,956 2.4%
Other sheep 131 7,495 1.7%
Pigs 21 3,633 0.6%
Fattening pigs 15 3,304 0.4%
Breeding sows 2 257 0.7%
Other pigs 4 72 6.2%
Poultry 2,333 130,549 1.8%
Broilers 919 91,096 1.0%
Laying hens 1,346 23,007 5.9%
Other poultry 68 16,446 0.4%
Other livestock 5 [x] [x]
Farmed deer 3 22 15%
Goats 1 92 1.0%
Horses 1 137 0.7%
Others [low] [x] [x]

Notes:

  1. Data relates to fully organic only.
  2. “Others” include camelids and any livestock not recorded elsewhere.
  3. “[x]” indicates no comparable June survey data is available.
  4. “[low]” indicates a value that is greater than zero, but shows as zero due to rounding. See the accompanying dataset for the unrounded value.

Source: June survey of agriculture as at 1 June 2023 and the Cattle Tracing System for cattle populations.

4.1 Organic cattle

In 2023, organically reared cattle numbers decreased by 2.6% to 212 thousand head. This represents 4.2% of the total herd in England.

Figure 5: Number of organic cattle in England (thousand head)

Years For slaughter Dairy cows Other cattle Total
2016 66.2 66.4 86.7 219.3
2017 76.4 61.2 79.7 217.3
2018 81.3 70.1 89.2 240.6
2019 58.7 70.9 91.1 220.8
2020 83.5 47.8 89.1 220.4
2021 82.0 47.2 84.6 213.8
2022 84.3 44.8 88.1 217.1
2023 91.6 40.4 79.6 211.6

Notes:

  1. Data relates to fully organic only.

4.2 Organic sheep

The number of sheep reared organically decreased by 5.5% to 295 thousand head and accounted for 2.0% of the total flock in England.

Figure 6: Number of organic sheep in England (thousand head)

Years Breeding females Other sheep Total
2016 211.8 194.1 405.9
2017 227.5 193.8 421.2
2018 213.3 160.7 374.0
2019 179.4 171.2 350.6
2020 183.5 128.5 312.0
2021 179.1 120.7 299.8
2022 172.9 138.9 311.8
2023 164.1 130.6 294.6

Notes:

  1. Data relates to fully organic only.

4.3 Organic pigs

The number of pigs reared organically decreased by 20% to 21 thousand head and accounted for 0.6% of the total pig herd in England.

Figure 7: Number of organic pigs in England (thousand head)

Years Fattening pigs Breeding sows Other pigs Total
2016 20.1 4.1 5.3 29.4
2017 23.8 5.0 8.4 37.2
2018 14.7 3.4 11.1 29.2
2019 19.1 3.0 8.6 30.6
2020 13.3 1.6 9.0 23.9
2021 14.7 2.5 6.5 23.7
2022 15.8 2.9 7.7 26.5
2023 14.9 1.9 4.5 21.2

Notes:

  1. Data relates to fully organic only.

4.4 Organic poultry

Organically reared poultry numbers increased by 3.0% to 2,333 thousand birds and accounted for 1.8% of the total population in England.

Figure 8: Number of organic poultry in England (thousand birds)

Years Broilers Laying hens Other poultry Total
2016 830 796 73 1,699
2017 1,033 912 57 2,002
2018 969 1,015 54 2,038
2019 911 1,104 57 2,072
2020 880 1,465 66 2,411
2021 1,074 1,412 64 2,550
2022 795 1,422 49 2,265
2023 919 1,346 68 2,333

Notes:

  1. Data relates to fully organic only.

5. Organic operators

In 2023, there were 3,882 producers and processors registered with the organic certification bodies in England, a decrease of 5.4% from 2022. A detailed breakdown of organic crop and livestock operators is available in the dataset accompanying this release.

Figure 9: Organic operators by type in England

Years Producers Producers & Processors Processors Total
2014 2,352 148 1,954 4,454
2015 2,336 145 2,098 4,579
2016 2,302 132 2,414 4,848
2017 2,335 124 2,578 5,037
2018 2,327 113 2,196 4,636
2019 2,354 99 2,174 4,627
2020 2,264 165 1,878 4,307
2021 2,269 175 1,852 4,296
2022 2,202 176 1,725 4,103
2023 2,133 174 1,575 3,882

Notes:

  1. Processors can include abattoirs, bakers, storers and wholesalers. The recorded location depends on the address registered with the Certifier Bodies and so larger businesses may be recorded at their headquarters.
  2. In 2018 work was carried out to clarify how operators were recorded. This resulted in a number of operators that were previously recorded as processors being recorded in the correct categories of wholesalers/traders/retailers etc. We were unable to backdate these changes so earlier data are not directly comparable.
  3. In 2020 work was carried out by some control bodies to group existing operators together, so they effectively became ‘one operator’ whilst previously they may have been separate operators with separate licences.
  4. Please note, the colours for Producers & Processors (turquoise) and Processors (purple) bars have reversed compared to the Organic Farming Statistics, 2022 stats notice.

Table 5: Number of organic operators by type and English region, 2023

Region Number of producers only Number of producers and processors Number of processors only Total organic producers and processors
England 2,133 174 1,575 3,882
North East 77 4 28 109
North West 103 13 111 227
Yorkshire and the Humber 85 7 91 183
East Midlands 142 6 114 262
West Midlands 278 20 120 418
East of England 177 9 218 404
South East (incl. London) 336 42 618 996
South West 935 73 275 1,283

Notes:

  1. Processors can include abattoirs, bakers, storers and wholesalers. The recorded location depends on the address registered with the Certifier Bodies and so larger businesses may be recorded at their headquarters.

Table 6: Number of organic operators by English region, 2020 to 2023

Region 2020 2021 2022 2023 Percentage change 2023/2022
England 4,307 4,296 4,103 3,882 -5.4%
North East 117 118 112 109 -2.7%
North West 241 244 233 227 -2.6%
Yorkshire and the Humber 227 216 198 183 -7.6%
East Midlands 328 308 298 262 -12%
West Midlands 468 454 449 418 -6.9%
East of England 419 412 407 404 -0.7%
South East (incl. London) 1,092 1,143 1,042 996 -4.4%
South West 1,415 1,401 1,364 1,283 -5.9%

Notes:

  1. In 2020 work was carried out by some control bodies to group existing operators together, so they effectively became ‘one operator’ whilst previously they may have been separate operators with separate licences.

6. About these statistics

6.1 Contact details

Responsible statistician: Joshua Moatt
Email: organic-stats@defra.gov.uk
Media enquiries: 0330 041 6560
Public enquiries: 0845 601 3034

Mallard House
Kings Pool
1-2 Peasholme Green
York
YO1 7PX

6.2 Methodology and more information

For more information about these statistics and how they were produced, please see the about organic farming statistics page.