The Surprise Leader: Italy's Covered-Lettuce Share
Italy grew 189.3 thousand tonnes of covered lettuce in 2024, 53.1% of the 356.8 thousand tonnes that EU member states reported. More than half of Europe's protected lettuce comes from one country — and it is not the Netherlands. The chart beside this section plots the member-state sum from 2015 to 2024, and what it shows is not growth but stability.
The line opens at 355.6 thousand tonnes in 2015, peaks at 376.7 in 2016, falls to its decade low of 338.1 in 2020, climbs back to 365.2 in both 2022 and 2023 and closes at 356.8 in 2024. That is a net change of +0.4% across ten years, with a coefficient of variation of 3.1% — the calmest trend in the covered-crop family. Somewhere inside that flat European line, Italy's own share was being rebuilt.
One methodological note governs everything that follows: apro_cpsh1 publishes no EU-27 aggregate for V2300S, the covered-lettuce series. The "EU" figures in this article are therefore the sum of the member states that report the series — 20 countries in 2024 — and they are not identical to a Eurostat EU-27 total. Readers comparing these numbers with other Eurostat tables should treat them as a reporter sum, disclosed as such.
The covered-lettuce decade, Eurostat dataset apro_cpsh1 (code V2300S). No EU-27 aggregate is published: this is the sum of the member-state reporters.
| Year | Covered lettuce, EU member sum (1 000 t) |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 355.6 |
| 2016 | 376.7 |
| 2017 | 363.8 |
| 2018 | 358.6 |
| 2019 | 352.2 |
| 2020 | 338.1 |
| 2021 | 339.8 |
| 2022 | 365.2 |
| 2023 | 365.2 |
| 2024 | 356.8 |
Not All Glass Is Dutch: Two Covered-Lettuce Economies
The ranking chart beside this section lays out the six largest producers of 2024: Italy 189.3 thousand tonnes, France 40.8, Belgium 28.6, Portugal 24.5, Spain 22.7 and Finland 11.2. Italy's bar is longer than the other five combined. That is the surprise: on protected lettuce, the Mediterranean is the glasshouse, and the Low Countries are at best a footnote.
Italy also expanded its physical base. Its covered-lettuce area went from 3.8 thousand hectares in 2015 to 5.5 in 2024, and its output from 124.4 thousand tonnes to 189.3, a rise of 52.2%. France moved the other way — 61.8 to 40.8 thousand tonnes, -34.1% — as did Belgium, 43.4 to 28.6, also -34.1%, on an area that shrank from 1.0 to 0.7 thousand hectares.
The clearest counter-example to any "Dutch model" assumption is the Netherlands itself. Its covered-lettuce output fell from 9.5 thousand tonnes in 2015 to 1.4 in 2024, a drop of 85.5% and the most erratic series in the group (CV 107.8); its covered-lettuce area went from 0.4 to 0.1 thousand hectares. Whatever Dutch protected horticulture is known for, on this crop it is neither the volume leader nor a growing one. Caveat: these are per-country series rather than an EU-wide picture, and member states report areas and yields rounded.
Covered lettuce in the three largest producers and in the Netherlands, Eurostat dataset apro_cpsh1.
| Country | 2015 (1 000 t) | 2024 (1 000 t) | Net change | Area 2024 (1 000 ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 124.4 | 189.3 | +52.2% | 5.5 |
| France | 61.8 | 40.8 | -34.1% | 1.8 |
| Belgium | 43.4 | 28.6 | -34.1% | 0.7 |
| Netherlands | 9.5 | 1.4 | -85.5% | 0.1 |
France's Second Place and the Salad-Bowl Logic
France is still number two with 40.8 thousand tonnes (11.4% of the reporter sum), but it is a distantly second place — Italy's output is about 4.6 times larger. Belgium holds third with 28.6 (8.0%), and Portugal follows close behind at 24.5 (6.9%).
The multi-line chart beside this section follows the three leaders year by year. Italy's line climbs from 124.4 to 189.3 and peaks at 196.0 in 2022; France's falls from 61.8 to 40.8; Belgium's slides from 43.4 to 28.6. Meanwhile the EU member sum moved only from 355.6 to 356.8, a net +1.2 thousand tonnes. Italy gained 64.9 thousand tonnes over the decade, while France lost 21.0 and Belgium 14.8. On a flat European total, one country's expansion is, arithmetically, everyone else's contraction.
Note the honest limit of that framing: the dataset lists twenty reporters in 2024, and smaller producers moved too — Portugal -5.1 thousand tonnes, Spain -4.9, the Netherlands -8.1 between 2015 and 2024. The point is not that Italy caused those declines; it is that Europe's protected-lettuce market is not clearing more volume overall, so national growth and national decline are two views of the same fixed plate.
The decade in quantities: covered lettuce, Eurostat dataset apro_cpsh1. The member sum is the total of reporting countries, not an EU-27 aggregate.
| Country | 2015 (1 000 t) | 2024 (1 000 t) | Change (1 000 t) | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 124.4 | 189.3 | +64.9 | +52.2% |
| France | 61.8 | 40.8 | -21.0 | -34.1% |
| Belgium | 43.4 | 28.6 | -14.8 | -34.1% |
| Portugal | 29.6 | 24.5 | -5.1 | -17.2% |
| Spain | 27.6 | 22.7 | -4.9 | -17.7% |
| EU member sum | 355.6 | 356.8 | +1.2 | +0.4% |
The Dutch Share: Smaller, but Present
The grouped bars beside this section put 2015 and 2024 side by side for the five mid-size producers and for Italy: Italy 124.4 to 189.3, France 61.8 to 40.8, Belgium 43.4 to 28.6, Portugal 29.6 to 24.5 and Spain 27.6 to 22.7. Four declining bars against one rising one is the whole decade in a single view.
The Netherlands still appears in the 2024 tables — 1.4 thousand tonnes, about 0.4% of the reporter sum — on an area of 0.1 thousand hectares. Compare that with the same country in the other protected-crop series: the Netherlands supplies 828.5 thousand tonnes of covered tomatoes, 15.6% of that reporter sum, and 416.0 thousand tonnes of covered cucumbers, 19.1%. Dutch glass is real; it is simply not pointed at lettuce.
Yields explain part of that gap. Belgium leads the six charted producers at 42.7 tonnes per hectare on 0.7 thousand hectares, followed by Italy at 34.2 t/ha on the largest area in the group, 5.5 thousand hectares, then Portugal at 30.3 and France at 22.9. A small-base caveat applies: Sweden reports 56.3 t/ha on roughly 0.1 thousand hectares, Germany 43.2 and Finland 38.7 — these are arithmetic ratios built from rounded areas, so they are indicative rather than precise agronomic measurements.
Five mid-size producers and Italy, 2015 and 2024, Eurostat dataset apro_cpsh1.
| Country | 2015 (1 000 t) | 2024 (1 000 t) | Net change | Area 2024 (1 000 ha) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 124.4 | 189.3 | +52.2% | 5.5 |
| France | 61.8 | 40.8 | -34.1% | 1.8 |
| Belgium | 43.4 | 28.6 | -34.1% | 0.7 |
| Portugal | 29.6 | 24.5 | -17.2% | 0.8 |
| Spain | 27.6 | 22.7 | -17.7% | 0.9 |
How the Indicator Counts Covered Lettuce
What is counted here is the S-suffixed series V2300S: lettuce grown under glass or under high accessible cover, at EU standard humidity, measured in thousand tonnes. It is not "all lettuce" — open-field lettuce sits in other series. The yield chart beside this section converts the 2024 production and area figures into tonnes per hectare, from Greece at 19.1 t/ha to Belgium at 42.7 t/ha, with Italy at 34.2 t/ha on the largest area and France at 22.9 t/ha.
Reporting coverage is the second caveat. In 2024 the covered-lettuce series counts, in this extraction, 20 reporting countries, from Italy's 189.3 thousand tonnes down to Czechia's 0.1. Ireland (4.8) and Sweden (3.4) rank among the ten largest while the Netherlands sits lower at 1.4 — a reminder that "covered" describes a cultivation method, not a country. Because no EU-27 aggregate line exists for V2300S, every share in this article is calculated against the reporter sum of 356.8 thousand tonnes in 2024.
The practical consequence: because the base is a reporter sum, a country that stopped reporting would shift the "EU" figure without a single plant changing. Areas are also rounded to 0.1 thousand hectares, so the yields derived from them — Italy 34.2 t/ha, Belgium 42.7 t/ha, Sweden 56.3 t/ha — carry that rounding. For every year from 2015 to 2024, the member sum is built the same way in this extraction, and that is what makes the ten-year comparison in the first chart meaningful even though it is not an official EU-27 series.
Yields (production divided by area) for covered lettuce in 2024, Eurostat dataset apro_cpsh1. Derived from rounded areas, therefore approximate.
| Country | Yield 2024 (t/ha) | Area 2024 (1 000 ha) |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 42.7 | 0.7 |
| Italy | 34.2 | 5.5 |
| Portugal | 30.3 | 0.8 |
| Spain | 25.5 | 0.9 |
| France | 22.9 | 1.8 |
| Greece | 19.1 | 0.4 |
| Sweden | 56.3 | 0.1 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Which country grows the most covered lettuce in the EU?
Italy: 189.3 thousand tonnes in 2024, 53.1% of the 356.8 thousand tonnes reported by EU member states. France is second with 40.8 thousand tonnes (11.4%) and Belgium third with 28.6 (8.0%).
Why does Italy lead on covered lettuce?
Because it combines the largest area with a growing protected sector: 5.5 thousand hectares of covered lettuce in 2024, up from 3.8 in 2015, producing 189.3 thousand tonnes, 52.2% more than 124.4. France and Belgium each shrank by 34.1% over the same ten years.
How much covered lettuce does Europe grow?
Reporting member states sum to 356.8 thousand tonnes in 2024, spread across 20 reporting countries. No official EU-27 aggregate exists for this series, so it is a reporter sum rather than a published EU total; since 2015, when it was 355.6 thousand tonnes, it has moved only +0.4%.
Is EU covered lettuce production growing?
Barely. The member sum went from 355.6 thousand tonnes in 2015 to 356.8 in 2024, a net +0.4%, with a coefficient of variation of 3.1% across the decade. Italy grew 52.2% over the same period, but France (-34.1%), Belgium (-34.1%) and the Netherlands (-85.5%) fell.
Source data extracted from Eurostat dataset apro_cpsh1.
This article was generated using AI. The content is based on Eurostat data and is provided as a starting point — please verify all data with the original source.
