Crop spraying – glyphosate
(LUXEMBOURG) – There was a sharp downturn in the quantity of pesticides sold in the EU in 2022, according to data on sales of pesticides released recently by the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat.
This article, which presents a handful of findings from more detailed ‘Statistics Explained’ information on Eurostat’s agri-environmental indicator: consumption of pesticides, shows that about 322,000 tonnes of pesticides were sold in 2022, down 10% on the quantity sold in 2021.
There are a range of pesticides sold in the EU, the main categories being ‘fungicides and bactericides’ (43% of sales volumes in 2022), ‘herbicides, haulm destructors and moss killers’ (35%) and ‘insecticides and acaricides’ (14%).
Among EU countries, France (21%), Spain (18%), Germany (15%) and Italy (14%) registered the highest share of pesticides sold in 2022. These 4 countries are the EU’s main agricultural producers.
Between 2011 and 2022, there were a number of EU countries that recorded steep declines in their sales of pesticides. The sharpest declines were recorded in Italy (-37%), Portugal (-36%) and Greece (-33%).
For the purpose of the article, the term ‘pesticides’ refers to plant protection products and covers the following categories: ‘fungicides and bactericides’, ‘herbicides, haulm destructors and moss killers’, ‘insecticides and acaricides’, ‘molluscicides’, ‘plant growth regulators’ and ‘other plant protection products’.
Eurostat: Statistics Explained article on agri-environmental indicator: consumption of pesticides
Thematic section on agriculture
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