Poland: Potato Area Down 93% Since 1961 While Yields Nearly Doubled
Poland grew potatoes on about 2.8 million hectares in 1961 and on about 196,000 ha in 2024. Yields rose to more than 30 t/ha, and farmers declared 185,100 ha for 2026.
Poland has lost most of its potato land in the past six decades. In 1961 Polish farmers harvested 45.2 million tonnes of potatoes at 16.0 t/ha, according to FAOSTAT data published by Our World in Data. In 2024 the harvest was 5.92 million tonnes at 30.2 t/ha. This means the potato area fell from about 2.82 million hectares to about 196,000 ha, a drop of 93%.
The decline came in steps. Production was 36.3 million tonnes in 1990, 24.2 million tonnes in 2000 and 8.4 million tonnes in 2010. In the same FAOSTAT table, Poland’s 1961 crop was larger than the crops of Germany (29.9 million tonnes) and France (14.3 million tonnes).
The latest official numbers
The Central Statistical Office (GUS) said on 18 December 2025 that the 2025 potato harvest reached about 7.0 million tonnes. This was 18.4% more than in 2024. The area was about 0.2 million hectares, up 9.2%, and the yield was 327 decitonnes per hectare, up 8.3%.
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Eurostat data give the same picture: 214,190 ha and 7.01 million tonnes in 2025, with a yield of 32.7 t/ha. For 2026 Eurostat shows a smaller area of 184,510 ha, which is 13.9% less than in 2025. The Eurostat series also shows a sharp step between 2019 (308,190 ha) and 2020 (226,070 ha), so long comparisons need care.
Farm declarations point the same way. According to warzywa.pl, which cites the Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR), farmers declared 185,100 ha of potatoes for 2026, compared with a record 210,800 ha in 2025. The largest areas are in five voivodeships:
- Wielkopolskie: 28,300 ha
- Łódzkie: 22,200 ha
- Kujawsko-Pomorskie: 20,400 ha
- Mazowieckie: 18,300 ha
- Pomorskie: 16,200 ha
Together these five regions hold about 57% of the declared area.
Why it matters
Poland is no longer a country of small potato plots. It now grows potatoes on a much smaller area, with higher yields and a clear regional centre in the west and centre of the country. The 2025 crop was large, but the 2026 area is smaller again.
For traders and processors this means that Polish supply now depends on a few regions and on the weather in those regions. A 14% cut in area can move the market as much as a poor season. Buyers who plan contracts for 2026/27 should watch the next GUS estimates. In 2025 the final crop estimate came in December.
Photo: A potato field in Książnica, Poland (illustrative). fot. Slawek Ilski / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
