In 2002, North America's appetite for organic produce overtook Europe's for the first time, at least in terms of money spent. With looser rules for certification than in Europe, possibly because the food industry had a hand in writing them, nearly all US supermarket chains now carry at least some organic products. One large chain, Whole Foods Markets, headquartered in Austin, Texas, carries almost nothing but organic food.

 11.75  1,428,700 (0.28%)

The continent's organic tradition stretches back millennia. Aztecs, Incas and Aymaras alike practised all the major methods of modern organic farming, from crop rotation to composting. They specialized in crop breeding, developing hundreds of varieties of maize (corn), potato, tomato, chilli and squash. Internal organic markets continue to thrive in some countries, but have not been well tabulated. And high prices paid in the United States mean export remains the region's principal organic activity.
 0.10  5,821,792 (0.71%)

Germany's organic market took a hit in 2002 after a banned pesticide turned up in organic poultry. But it soon recovered, and German consumers continue to outspend all other Europeans on what they call 'bio' food – spending about US$3 billion. The British market is roughly half that size, with the Italians and the French close behind. But, per capita, the Swiss are the clear world leaders, buying nearly twice as much organic food as their German neighbours.

 10.5  4,918,690 (3.64%)

Japan remains the primary consumer of organic food in Asia, although its reported market for such products went from US$2.5 billion in 2000 to a tenth of that in the following year after the agriculture ministry set stricter standards for certification. The rest of the continent produces crops mainly for export to Japan and the West, but rising prosperity, particularly in China, has given organic sales a huge boost since the millennium.

 0.35  636,615 (0.05%)

Australia has far more certified organic land than any other country. Yet Australians themselves do not much care for the stuff — at least not compared with consumers in North America and Europe — and the market is estimated at only US$100 million annually. Much of the land is pasture for grazing organic cattle to supply the lucrative beef markets in Japan and North America.

 0.20  110,050,465 (2.14%)

The extent of organic farming in Africa is hard to estimate. Few countries collect farming data, yet many Africans farm organically by default, simply because they cannot afford fertilizer or pesticides. For the most part, only those who plan to export their produce to Europe would bother to have their farms certified. In few cities outside South Africa can certified organic food be found for sale.

 Small  307,443 (0.10%)