Belgium: Potato Output Up 61% Since 2000 as Flanders Cuts 2026 Area by 23%
Belgium harvested 4.7 million tonnes of potatoes in 2025, split between Flanders and Wallonia. In 2026 Flanders cut its potato area by 23% and Wallonia by 12%.
Belgium is one of the few European countries where the potato crop has grown strongly this century. The statistics office Statbel said in May 2026 that the 2025 harvest of early and storage potatoes reached 4.7 million tonnes. This was 21% more than in 2024. The area grew 7.2% and the yield rose 13% to about 45,900 kg per hectare. The farm press in Belgium and the Netherlands (VILT and Nieuwe Oogst) reported the same figures.
The crop is split almost evenly between the two main regions. Flanders produced 2.5 million tonnes and Wallonia 2.2 million tonnes. Both regions had about the same yield per hectare.
Growth since 2000
FAOSTAT data for Belgium alone start in 2000, when the country produced 2.92 million tonnes at 44.4 t/ha, according to Our World in Data. In 2024 production was 3.98 million tonnes at 39.6 t/ha. This means the area grew from about 66,000 ha to about 100,000 ha. With 4.7 million tonnes in 2025, output was about 61% higher than in 2000.
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Belgian growth came from more land, not from higher yields. Yields in 2024 were lower than in 2000, and even the good 2025 yield was only slightly higher than the 2000 level. Belgium also buys large volumes abroad: France sends about 45% of its potato exports to Belgium, according to CNIPT data reported by Terre-net.
The 2026 cut
After the large 2025 crop, prices fell. In June 2026 the Flemish Agency for Agriculture and Fisheries said that the potato area in Flanders was 23% smaller than in 2025, based on early farm declarations. Wallonia cut its area by 12%. In Flanders the area of early potatoes fell by 48% and the area of storage potatoes by 19%. The agency said the cut followed several years of strong growth, a very good 2025 yield, large stocks and very low prices. Final figures for 2026 are expected in spring 2027.
Why it matters
Belgian potato supply has grown mainly through a larger area. A cut of about one fifth in Flanders in one season shows that this base can shrink quickly when free-market prices are low.
Wallonia is now almost as important as Flanders for supply. For buyers this means that the weather and farm decisions in the south of the country matter as much as in the north. Potatoes from France may become even more important for Belgian buyers in 2026/27.
Photo: Potato lifting in Sint-Laureins, East Flanders, Belgium (illustrative). Spotter2 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
