Cyprus increased its total sales of pesticides by 101 per cent between 2011 and 2019, by far the highest increase in the EU, the latest Eurostat figures show.

Of the 18 EU countries for which data are available for all the major groups, 12 decreased their total sales of pesticides between 2011 and 2019. The highest decrease was recorded for Denmark (-42 per cent), followed by five countries (Italy, Portugal, Czechia, Sweden and Romania), which saw a decrease of more than 20 per cent.

The highest increase in pesticide sales was recorded in Cyprus (+101 per cent), followed by Latvia (+54 per cent), Austria (+44 per cent) and Poland (+11 per cent).

In 2019, the volume of pesticides sold in the EU reached the lowest level since the start of the data series, with just over 333,000 tonnes sold and 6 per cent lower than in 2018. This sharp decline comes after a period of levels hovering between 350,000 and 370,000 tonnes per year (2011-2018).

In terms of the categories of pesticides sold, the highest sales volumes in 2019 were for ‘Fungicides and bactericides’ (40 per cent of the total), followed by ‘Herbicides, haulm destructors and moss killers’ (33 per cent) and ‘Insecticides and acaricides’ (13 per cent).

Four EU member states (Germany, Spain, France and Italy) – also the main agricultural producers in the EU – recorded the highest volumes sold in total.