In 2025, Germany harvested about 45,700 t of shrub berries on roughly 9,000 ha of cultivation land. The cultivation area fell by 2.0 % compared with 2024, but the yield rose 23.5 % as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Tuesday.
The milder weather in 2025 – in contrast to the poor harvest of 2024, which was hampered by late frosts and drought – is cited as the main reason for the sharp increase in production. Compared with the six‑year average, total shrub‑berry harvests grew by 13.3 %. Since the data collection began in 2012, the record harvest of 45,600 t reached in 2021 has now been surpassed.
The most important shrub‑berry species in 2025 remained the cultivated lingonberry, grown on 3,450 ha (‑1.4 % versus 2024). It accounted for about 38 % of the total area and yield. Harvested 17,300 t of lingonberries, a 14.4 % rise over 2024.
Following lingonberries, the largest harvests went to red and white currants (9,300 t, +37.3 % from 2024), raspberries (6,200 t, -11.1 % from 2024), and black currants (5,900 t, +107.4 % from 2024).
Cultivation under high, walk‑through protective covers-greenhouses and similar structures-expanded by 2.6 % to 590 ha in 2025, while the yield fell slightly by 2.8 % to just under 6,500 t. These protected areas are mainly used for raspberries, which in 2025 represented 77.4 % of the protected cultivation area. The steady rise in protected raspberry cultivation seen since 2012 stopped in 2025, with the area remaining nearly unchanged at 450 ha from the previous year.
Organic production covered roughly 32.2 % (2,900 ha) of the total shrub‑berry cultivation area in 2025. About 6,000 t of berries were harvested, representing 13.0 % of the overall yield. The organic area declined slightly by 2.6 % from the previous year, yet the organic yield increased 43.5 % over the poor harvest year 2024.
Compared with the six‑year average, the organic shrub‑berry harvest grew 25.4 %. The only year with a higher organic yield was 2021, at 7,100 t. The leading organic species were again the aronia berry (870 ha), followed by lingonberry (590 ha) and sea buckthorn (480 ha). Lingonberries provided the largest organic harvest at about 1,800 t (+15.6 % from 2024), followed by aronia berries at roughly 1,500 t (+194.8 % from 2024).
