France: Hauts-de-France Holds 61% of Potato Area as Exports Reach 3.8 Million Tonnes
France now grows potatoes on about a quarter of its 1961 area, but it exports more fresh potatoes than any other country. The north holds 61% of the 2026 area.
French potato production is now concentrated in the north and built for export. According to a survey by the potato growers’ union UNPT and the interprofession CNIPT, reported by FreshPlaza on 26 June 2026, France planted 173,415 hectares of potatoes in 2026. This was 9.7% less than the 192,099 ha of 2025. The Hauts-de-France region holds 61% of the national area.
The French chambers of agriculture give a similar picture for 2025: about 197,000 ha, 25% more than in 2023, and 60% of the area in Hauts-de-France. They describe France as the world’s first potato exporter for the second season in a row. They also note that French consumer demand for fresh potatoes is stable at a little over 1 million tonnes.
From a home crop to an export crop
The long FAOSTAT series, published by Our World in Data, shows a deep change. In 1961 France produced 14.3 million tonnes at 16.1 t/ha. In 1990 the crop was 4.75 million tonnes. By 2024 it was back at 9.24 million tonnes, with a yield of 42.4 t/ha. The area of 1961 was about 890,000 ha. FranceAgriMer counted 203,756 ha in 2023, about 77% less.
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FranceAgriMer data for 2023 show 30,113 potato farms and a harvest of 8.6 million tonnes. Storage potatoes covered 154,041 ha, or about three quarters of the area. Certified seed covered 20,676 ha, starch potatoes 16,733 ha and early potatoes 12,306 ha.
Trade is the key to the structure. In 2023/24 France exported 2.6 million tonnes of fresh potatoes worth €1.2 billion and 253,000 tonnes of seed, according to FranceAgriMer. But France imported 1.9 million tonnes of processed potato products worth €1.3 billion and exported only 1.5 million tonnes worth €904 million. French factories used 1.61 million tonnes of raw potatoes. Frozen products made up 67% of this processing, chips 14% and dried products 13%.
For the 2024/25 season CNIPT data, reported by Terre-net, show a record 3.8 million tonnes of exports, 8% more than a year earlier. Belgium took about 45% of the volume. Export value fell 6%.
Why it matters
France sells raw potatoes to its neighbours and buys back part of them as fries and other frozen products. Most of the added value of processing is therefore created in Belgium and other countries, not in France. New processing plants in the north could change this balance over time.
The 2026 cut in area is a reaction to low prices after the large 2025 crop. With 61% of the area in one region, the weather in Hauts-de-France now decides a large part of both French and Belgian raw material supply.
Photo: A potato field in Villers-au-Tertre, Hauts-de-France (illustrative). JackyM59 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
