Sales of plant protection products remained fairly stable in the European Union (EU) between 2011 and 2020. Sales fluctuated between 330,000 and 370,000 tonnes in those ten years.
Sales of resources in 2020 were 346,000 tonnes, according to figures from the European statistical office Eurostat. The largest share in these sales was held by the fungicides with 43 percent. Herbicides had an input of 35 percent, while insecticides accounted for 14 percent. Of the fungicides in 2020, about 57 percent were inorganic.
Eurostat figures also show that the largest agricultural countries in the EU are, in alphabetical order that Germany, France, Italy and Spain have bought the most pesticides. Those member states account for about two-thirds of the decline.
??Between 2011 & 2020, 11 of the Member States with available data recorded lower sales of pesticides. Sharpest decline was in ??Czechia (-38%).
??Austria (+61%) & ??Latvia (+77%) reported significantly higher sales of pesticides in 2020 than in 2011.
?https://t.co/7hVbn3yi6H pic.twitter.com/WteGRntjBk— EU_Eurostat (@EU_Eurostat) May 2, 2022
The decline per country developed differently in those ten years. For example, sales in the Czech Republic fell the strongest by almost 40 percent. The largest increase was achieved in Latvia, where a plus of over 75 percent was recorded. Austria is also one of the major growth drivers: sales of resources rose 60 percent here.