Production and accounts of organic farming and horticulture
How big is the organic farming area in Denmark? How big is the production of organic milk and eggs, and how is the economy of organic production? Here you will find the statistics on production and accounts of organic farming and horticulture.
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Key figure that show a company's ability to generate profit relative to the amount of money tied up in various assets. In economic accounts statistics for agriculture, fisheries, and aquaculture, the key figure is calculated as the result of primary operations plus subsidies minus owner's remuneration, expressed as a percentage of average assets.
A technical-economic unit producing agricultural products.
Selected statistics on Production and accounts of organic farming and horticulture
Area under organic farming
The information comes from the questionnaire, IACS and the livestock register
In 2025 the sample had a size of 6.300 farms, about 20 per cent all farms in Denmark. In addition there are 14,000 smaller farms lower than 30 ha, where the results are exclusively from registers and imputations
The sample is stratified by regions, size and type of farming (e.g. pig farms, cattle farms and plant production).
Return on assets for organic full-time farms
The Farm Account Statistics aim to be representative of all agricultural holdings and of the various types of farming. The statistics include both individually owned holdings and jointly owned holdings, primarily partnerships. The main sources are accounting data supplied by accounting offices affiliated with DLBR P/S and by independent accounting firms. The Farm Structure Survey conducted by Statistics Denmark provides the basis for defining the survey population. In addition, administrative registers maintained by public authorities are used for FSDN purposes.
The sampling plan is optimised according to the Neyman allocation criterion using three target variables. The allocation is based on the observed variation within strata defined by EU farm type and economic size. The three target variables are operating result, debt ratio and sustainability measured by the amount of green subsidies, weighted by 40, 30 and 30 per cent, respectively.
For the national statistics, the sample is stratified into six main groups: conventional full-time farms, conventional part-time farms, organic full-time farms, organic part-time farms, full-time horticultural holdings and part-time horticultural holdings.
Under the EU Regulation, Denmark is required to transmit data for 1,450 holdings to the FSDN. At least 80 per cent of this number must be delivered. For the national statistics, only holdings with at least 10 hectares of cultivated land are eligible for selection.
Milk production
Data on milk and dairy products comes from administrative register. The primary administrative register are Danish Dairy Board (which collects data from every single dairy in Denmark), public institutions, trade and industry organizations and private business enterprises. The others data comes from SEGES, the Danish Agriculture & Food Council and Cattle survey.
Egg production
Data on eggs weighed in on egg packages comes until 2023 from an administrative register in the Ministry of the Environment and Food with information on egg turnover in the packages. From 2023 data are collected by Static Denmark.
All egg parcels were obliged to report onto 2023 to the Ministry. The purpose is for all registered parcels to pay a fee that is used for the financing of controls, including supervision, authorization, registration, approval, notification, certification and examination of the eggs.
Data on hatching eggs are from the Poultry Tax Fund where the hatcheries are required to report data. The purpose is for all registered hatcheries to pay a fee that is used to fund control, including supervision, authorization, registration, approval, etc.
On the statistics – documentation, sources and method
See the documentation of statistics to learn more:
The purpose of the Farm Account Statistics for Agriculture is to provide information on the accounting results of agricultural holdings and horticultural holdings in Denmark. The statistics are considered an important input for the calculation of the agricultural sector accounts, the national accounts, and the EU Farm Sustainability Data Network (FSDN). The statistics have been compiled since 1916, but in their current form they are comparable from 2008 onwards.
The purpose for this statistics for Economics of agricultural activities are to analyze the economic results for individual crops and livestock production. This also applies to horticultural crops. The statistics are based on holdings that have a work equivalent to at least 1 annual work unit (1 AWU equals 1,665 working hours). Holdings are weighted together, achieving a representative statistics for full-time farms. The basic accounts statistics for agriculture has been compiled since 1916 while the economics of agricultural activities is comparable 2021 onwards. In StatbankDK archive a time series for 2008-2021 can be found.
The purpose of the statistics on egg production is to describe the quantity and value of eggs produced in Denmark. The statistics on eggs have a long history and date back to the 20th century. Since 1955, the statistics have been compiled on the same basis as is used today. From 1996 and onwards, the production of consumer eggs divided into production forms: i.e. eggs from caged hens, barn eggs, free-range eggs and organic eggs.
The purpose of the survey is to describe the structure of agriculture, e.g. number of farms by size and geography.
The statistics have comparable time series going back to 1982. The agricultural statistics, however, are much older than that with figures for number of farms, livestock, crops etc. going back to around 1900.
The statistics are used to describe the purpose of the statistics on milk and dairy products is to illuminate the size and value of the milk production on the farms and the use of milk for dairy products. The statistics on milk and dairy product have a long history and the key figures covering the past 100 years are comparable. The statistics in their present form are comparable from 1990 onwards.