Swedish ecology is losing ground – both in the field and in the market
Økologisk NuIt is not only Denmark currently experiencing challenges in organic sales. Ten days into Eco-September, Sweden's largest nationwide organic campaign of the year, Organic Sweden has published its annual report on the Swedish organic market. The report shows that organic sales in 2025 decreased by 2 percent, while the overall grocery market grew by 4.5 percent. This means that the organic market share in Sweden fell from 3.9 percent in 2024 to 3.7 percent in 2025. Organic Sweden is concerned that organic sales continue to decline after recent years. The decline may also come as a surprise, as two out of three Swedish consumers state they would buy more organic products if given the opportunity. "It is a paradox that two out of three consumers want to buy more organic, yet organic sales continue to fall. The willingness is there – but the market needs to better meet that demand," says Charlotte Bladh André, CEO of Organic Sweden, in a press release about the new report. To reverse the trend, she believes that organic alternatives to conventional products need to be more visible and easy to choose in everyday life. She calls for more campaigns that can highlight the added value that organic products provide. The report shows that sales value fell by 3.0 percent in categories with more detailed sales data, but when looking at volume sales, there was an 8.8 percent decline, while conventional volume grew by 4.3 percent in 2025. The volume decline has particularly affected the dairy category, which shrank by 12.5 percent. The fact that sales of organic dairy products only fell by 0.7 percent in value is mainly due to significant price increases on organic products. The cultivated area is shrinking by 4.5 percent. However, further along the organic value chain, there are some bright spots in the report, which shows that the total volume of organic production increased by nearly 3 percent in 2025. At the same time, the value of Swedish organic raw materials increased by 11 percent. As a result, the market’s total additional payment to Swedish organic farmers last year exceeded one billion Danish kroner, which, according to the report, demonstrates a financial basis for organic production in Sweden. At the same time, long-term production capacity was weakened, as the organic cultivated land decreased by 4.5 percent, and organic pasture areas fell by 3.6 percent. The total organic area now accounts for 15.9 percent of Sweden’s agricultural land, which has decreased each year since the record year 2019, when organic farmers managed just over 600,000 hectares. Fewer production animals The report also shows that organic farmers had to note a decline in the number of key production animals. Niclas Åkeson, market analyst at Publishing Farm, warns that it is important to safeguard the production capacity of Swedish organic farmers. He explains that organic production can contribute to a more resilient food supply through a greater focus on local resources and less dependence on imported foods. "It is positive that the economy in the primary sector has been strengthened. At the same time, we must ensure that there are still farmers, land, and animals capable of producing organic raw materials," says Niclas Åkeson.
It is not only Denmark currently experiencing challenges in organic sales. Here ten days into Eco-September, which is the country's largest nationwide organic campaign in Sweden, Organic Sweden has published the annual report on the Swedish organic market.
It shows that organic sales in 2025 decreased by two percent in a market where the total grocery market grew by 4.5 percent. This means that the organic share in Sweden fell from 3.9 percent in 2024 to 3.7 percent in 2025.
At Organic Sweden, there is concern that organic sales continue to decline in recent years. The decline may also come as a surprise, as two out of three Swedish consumers state that they would like to buy more organic products if given the opportunity.
”It is a paradox that two out of three consumers want to buy more organic products, while organic sales continue to fall. The willingness is there – but the market needs to better meet that demand,” says Charlotte Bladh André, CEO of Organic Sweden, in a press release about the new report.
If the trend is to be reversed, she believes that organic alternatives to conventional products need to be more visible and easy to choose in everyday life. She calls for more campaigns that can highlight the added value that organic products contribute.
The report shows that sales value fell by 3.0 percent in categories where more detailed sales data is available, but when looking at sales measured in volume, there is an 8.8 percent decline, while conventional volume in 2025 grew by 4.3 percent.
The volume decline has especially affected the dairy category, which shrank by 12.5 percent. When sales of organic dairy products only fell by 0.7 percent in value, this is mainly due to significant price increases on organic products.
The area shrinks by 4.5 percent
Further back in the organic value chain, there are some bright spots in the report, which show that the total volume of organic production increased by nearly 3 percent in 2025. At the same time, the value of Swedish organic raw materials increased by 11 percent. As a result, the market’s total additional payment to Swedish organic farmers last year exceeded one billion Danish kroner, which, according to the report, demonstrates that there is an economic basis for organic production in Sweden.
At the same time, long-term production capacity was weakened, as the organic cultivated land area decreased by 4.5 percent, while organic pasture areas fell by 3.6 percent. Thus, the total organic area now accounts for 15.9 percent of Sweden’s agricultural land, which has decreased each year since the record year 2019, when organic farmers managed just over 600,000 hectares.
Fewer production animals
At the same time, the report shows that organic farmers also had to note a decline in the number of the main production animals. Niclas Åkeson, market analyst at Publishing Farm, warns that it is important to safeguard the production capacity of Swedish organic farmers.
He justifies this by stating that organic production can contribute to a more resilient food supply through a greater focus on local resources and less dependence on imported foods.
”It is positive that the economy in the primary sector has been strengthened. At the same time, we must ensure that there are still farmers, land, and animals that can produce organic raw materials,” says Niclas Åkeson.