In 2025 German farmers harvested a total of 4.5 million tonnes of vegetables, an increase of 8.1 percent over the previous year and 13.2 percent above the 2019‑2024 average, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). The figure represents the highest vegetable output since the start of the series in 1990.
The sector comprised 5,960 vegetable‑producing farms, which expanded their cultivation area by 3.9 percent to 131,700 hectares – 3.6 percent higher than the multi‑year average for 2019‑2024. Open‑field production covered roughly 130,400 hectares, a 3.9 percent increase from 2024. The largest open‑field regions in 2025 were North Rhine‑Westphalia (28,600 ha), Lower Saxony (26,500 ha), Bavaria (17,500 ha) and Rhineland‑Palatinate (16,000 ha).
By crop, fresh onions (Speisezwiebeln) dominated the harvest with 903,300 tonnes, rising 21.4 percent from 2024 and becoming the most productive vegetable for the first time since 1990. Carrots followed closely at 865,700 tonnes (+1.8 percent), white cabbage at 507,500 tonnes (+18.8 percent), and pickling cucumbers at 197,600 tonnes (down 7.5 percent). In open‑field area terms, onions again led with 19,770 ha (+11.7 percent year on year), asparagus occupied 19,220 ha (down 2.8 percent), carrots covered 14,190 ha (+2.9 percent), white cabbage 6,500 ha (+5.6 percent), and gourds 5,750 ha (+9.5 percent).
Organic farms produced 597,000 tonnes across 20,600 ha in 2025, accounting for 15.6 percent of total vegetable acreage and 13.2 percent of the overall yield. The organic area grew 6.4 percent and the harvest 12.6 percent compared to 2024. Relative to the 2019‑2024 average, organic land rose 17.3 percent while yield climbed 33.7 percent. The largest organic area was carrots at 3,340 ha, followed by gourds (2,200 ha), onions (2,150 ha) and beetroot (1,790 ha). Beetroot contributed 48.7 percent of the organic harvest, gourds 35.6 percent, zucchini 34.9 percent, and fresh peas 30.5 percent.
Protected cultivation under high‑cover structures – such as greenhouses or high‑plastic tunnels – expanded slightly in 2025, adding 1,250 ha (0.8 percent) and yielding 219,200 tonnes, up 4.3 percent. Tomatoes led the protected harvest with 108,600 tonnes (+0.5 percent), followed by salad cucumbers with 66,700 tonnes (down 2.7 percent) and bell peppers at 18,500 tonnes (+12.2 percent). Organic production within this protected sector represented 24.0 percent of the area (300 ha), roughly eight percentage points higher than in open‑field cultivation, and produced 33,800 tonnes, or 15.4 percent of the total organic vegetable yield.
