Initial estimates from Germany’s Statistical Federal Office (Destatis) indicate a significantly reduced strawberry harvest for the current year. Forecasters predict a harvest of 75,500 tons of outdoor-grown strawberries, marking the lowest yield since 1995, when 68,800 tons were recorded.
This projected harvest represents a four percent decrease from the already modest 2024 yield of 78,600 tons and a substantial 24 percent reduction compared to the average harvest from 2019 to 2024, which stood at 99,900 tons.
The decline is partly attributed to a reduction in cultivatable land dedicated to outdoor strawberry production. This area has contracted by four percent year-on-year, reaching 8,100 hectares – also the lowest figure since 1995. Several factors are cited as contributing to this trend, including rising production costs, broader increases in prices and a decrease in consumer demand for the premium fruit.
Asparagus harvests are also facing a downturn. Preliminary data suggests a yield of 98,900 tons, a nine percent decrease compared to the previous year and the lowest output since 2010. This represents a 15 percent decline when viewed against the six-year average (2019-2024) of 116,300 tons. Similar economic pressures, namely increased production costs and dampened demand, have prompted a reduction in asparagus cultivation areas. Regional dry conditions in the early spring have also contributed to localized harvest losses.
North Rhine-Westphalia is expected to be the leading strawberry-producing region, with a projected harvest of 18,600 tons, followed by Lower Saxony (17,800 tons) and Baden-Württemberg (11,800 tons).
For asparagus, Lower Saxony is projected to yield the most, at 19,700 tons, followed by Brandenburg (18,700 tons), North Rhine-Westphalia (17,300 tons) and Bavaria (17,200 tons). The asparagus cultivatable area has also decreased, falling six percent to 18,600 hectares, reflecting a broader trend amongst producers.