According to the definitive data presented by Eurostat, in 2022, approximately 270.9 million tonnes of cereals were harvested in the EU. This was 26.7 million tonnes less than in 2021, equivalent to a decrease of 9%.

France ranks 1st, Romania 5th

France harvested 59.9 million tonnes of cereals in 2022, being the largest cereal producer in the EU and contributing 22% to the total EU production. Germany harvested 43.5 million tonnes of cereals (16% of the total EU), Poland 35.0 million tonnes (13%), Spain 19.3 million tonnes (7%), and Romania 18.9 million tonnes (also 7% of the total EU).

The overall decrease in cereal production in the EU in 2022 was influenced by developments in Romania, affected by drought (-32%: a decrease of 8.9 million tonnes), France (-10%: a decrease of 7.0 million tonnes), Spain (-24%: a decrease of 6.2 million tonnes), and Hungary (-35%: a decrease of 4.9 million tonnes).

There were very few countries where the total cereal harvest increased, including Germany (+3%, an increase of 1.1 million tonnes), Finland (+39%, a recovery of 1.0 million tonnes after a poor harvest in 2021), and Poland (+3%, an increase of 1.0 million tonnes).

Decrease in wheat and spelt, maize, and rye production in 2022

The EU harvested 126.7 million tonnes of common wheat and spelt in 2022, 3.2 million tonnes less than in 2021, a decrease of 2%.

The harvested production of cereal maize and maize cobs mixture dropped to 53.0 million tonnes in 2022, 20.0 million tonnes less than in 2021, equivalent to a decrease of 27%. This sharp decrease primarily reflected the adverse effects of widespread drought in the EU.

The harvested production of barley in the EU in 2022 was almost unchanged at 52.0 million tonnes, as was the production of oats at 7.5 million tonnes. However, rye production decreased by 8% to 7.8 million tonnes in 2022.

Widespread drought and heat stress

Plant production is highly sensitive to weather conditions, both during the growing season and at harvest. In many regions of Europe, the maximum daily temperatures in the summer of 2022 were the warmest or second warmest recorded since 1991.

Heat stress, caused by these high temperatures, and drought contributed to the decrease in harvested production of some cereals, especially maize grains, in several EU regions.

These pieces of information are based on recently published data regarding the 2022 agricultural production from arable land.