In 2025, German farms harvested 4.5 million tonnes of vegetables-an increase of 8.1 % over 2024 and 13.2 % above the 2019‑2024 average-according to Destatis. This marks the highest yield since the series began in 1990.
A total of 5,960 vegetable‑producing farms expanded their cultivation area by 3.9 %, reaching 131,700 ha in 2025, which is 3.6 % above the multi‑year mean (2019‑2024). About 130,400 ha were used for outdoor vegetable production, a 3.9 % rise from the previous year. The largest outdoor areas were in North Rhine‑Westphalia (28,600 ha), followed by Lower Saxony (26,500 ha), Bavaria (17,500 ha) and Rhineland‑Palatinate (16,000 ha).
On the crop‑level, onions (Speisezwiebeln) topped the list with roughly 903,300 t, a 21.4 % jump from 2024 and the first time they led German vegetable harvests since 1990. Carrots (Möhren/Karotten) were the second‑largest at 865,700 t, up 1.8 %, followed by white cabbage at 507,500 t (up 18.8 %) and pickles at 197,600 t (down 7.5 %). In terms of outdoor area, onions again led with 19,770 ha (up 11.7 %), followed by asparagus (19,220 ha, down 2.8 %) and carrots (14,190 ha, up 2.9 %). White cabbage and pumpkin fields were 6,500 ha (up 5.6 %) and 5,750 ha (up 9.5 %) respectively.
Organic farms produced 597,000 t of vegetables on approximately 20,600 ha in 2025, representing 15.6 % of total vegetable area and 13.2 % of total yield. Organic area grew 6.4 % from 2024, with yield rising 12.6 %. Compared to the 2019‑2024 average, organic vegetable area increased 17.3 % and yield climbed 33.7 %. The largest organic crop area remained carrots (3,340 ha), followed by pumpkin (2,200 ha) and onions (2,150 ha), with beet roots covering 1,790 ha. Beet roots, pumpkin, zucchini and fresh peas dominated the share of organic yields at 48.7 %, 35.6 %, 34.9 % and 30.5 % respectively.
Protected cultivation-such as in greenhouses or under high‑tension film-expanded only modestly in 2025, adding 1,250 ha (0.8 %) to 2024. Yields grew 4.3 % to 219,200 t, with tomatoes leading at 108,600 t (0.5 % increase). Lettuce cucumbers were the second‑largest crop at 66,700 t (down 2.7 %), followed by bell peppers at 18,500 t (up 12.2 %). Under high‑tension cover, organic crop area constituted 24 % (300 ha), about eight percentage points higher than outdoors, and the organic yield of 33,800 t accounted for 15.4 % of the total organic vegetable harvest.