Food Safety in Europe

The 2013 nominal factor income of the agricultural industry (the income from selling the services of factors of production, namely land, labor, and capital) in the EU-28 was valued at € 128.7 billion ($142,149,150,000) in basic price terms.

Cereals

The harvested production of cereals (including rice) in the EU-28 was estimated to be 305.5 million tonnes in 2013. This represented about one eighth of global cereal production, making the EU one of the world’s biggest producers of cereals.

Common wheat and spelt, barley, grain maize, and corn cob mix account 85.6 percent of the cereals produced in the EU-28 in 2013.

France counted for 22.0 percent of the EU-28’s cereal production in 2013. Germany (15.6 percent) and Poland (9.3 percent) together contributed another quarter of the EU total, while Spain was the next largest cereal producer (accounting for 8.2 percent of the EU-28’s output).

Among the EU-28, France was the largest producer of common wheat, grain maize, and corn cob mix in 2013.

Fruits and Vegetables

The EU produces a broad range of fruits and vegetables thanks to its varied climatic and topographic conditions.

The EU is one of the main global producers of tomatoes. Open-air production is typical in southern EU member states and is complemented by all-season greenhouse production, which is common in countries such as the Netherlands or Belgium.

The EU-28 produced 4.923 million tonnes of tomatoes in 2013, of which approximately two thirds came from Italy and Spain.

The EU-28 produced 5.142 million tonnes of carrots in 2013.

Poland and the U.K. accounted for a little over one quarter (14.3 percent and 13.5 percent respectively) of EU-28 carrot output in 2013, totaling 0.7-0.8 million tonnes.

The EU-28 produced 5.732 million tonnes of onions in 2013.The Netherlands and Spain are the EU’s principal onion producing countries, accounting together for 44.0 percent of EU-28 output in 2013.

The area under olive trees accounted for about 4.65 million ha in the EU in 2012, with olive production concentrated in the Mediterranean area. Olive trees are grown in Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, France, Croatia, Cyprus, Slovenia, and Malta. Eight EU member states have area under olive trees exceeding 1,000 ha. In 2013 a whopping 99.5 percent of the olive production in the EU-28 was concentrated in Spain, Italy, Greece, and Portugal. Spain (53 percent) and Italy (24 percent) account for over three quarters of the total EU area under olive trees, followed by Greece (15 percent) and Portugal (7 percent) regarding the total EU area under olive trees.

The EU is the largest producer of olive oil in the world, accounting for almost three quarters of global production. Production of olives for olive oil in the EU-28 in 2013 was Spain (62.7 percent), Italy (19.8 percent), Greece (12.5 percent), and Portugal (4.5percent), for a total production of olives for olive oil at 14.0 million tonnes.

The EU is the largest wine producer in the world, accounting for about two thirds of global production. Of the estimated 25.2 million tonnes of grapes produced in the EU-28 in 2013, the vast majority (91 percent) was destined for wine production. Italy, Spain, and France are the principal grape producers in the EU. In 2013 these three countries produced 31.7 percent, 29.6 percent, and 17 percent of the EU’s grapes respectively. The most important table grape producer in the EU is Italy with almost 35,700 ha, followed by Spain (about 11,400 ha), Romania (about 5,200 ha), and France (about 4, 900 ha).

The most common fruit tree in the EU is the apple tree, which accounts for more than one third (35 percent) of the total surveyed European orchard area and covers 450,000 ha. There were 11.986 million tonnes of apples produced in the EU-28 in 2013.Apples are produced in almost all EU member states, although Poland, Italy, and France are the largest producers. Poland is the biggest apple growing country, with nearly one third of the EU total apple tree area. Italy and Romania follow in apple growing, each with a share of over 11 percent. France (8 percent), Germany (7 percent), Spain (6 percent), and Hungary (nearly 6 percent) are also major apple producing countries. Together Poland, Italy, Romania, France, Germany, Spain, and Hungary cover more than 80 percent of the total EU area under apple trees.