Only 9% of greenhouse acreage worldwide is covered with glass

For businesses supplying greenhouse vegetable producers, an important question often asked relates to the types of structures being constructed. Glass, polycarbonate, polyethylene, tunnels, etc. While for many countries this breakdown in structure types is not published, some data is available.

In countries around the Mediterranean Sea, of the “protected cultivation” area, an average of 9% of the structures are glass covered. This ranges from 25% in Egypt, 16% in Morocco and 12% in Turkey, to less than 5% glass structures in Greece, Israel, and Jordan.

Other countries with reported glass vegetable greenhouse percentage statistics: Bulgaria-48%, Canada-42%, China-<1% ,Germany-80%, Ireland- 95%, Japan-5%, Latvia-39%, Mexico-5%, Moldova-7%, Netherlands-90%, South Korea-<1%, USA-40%.

Using a worldwide weighted average, 91% of “greenhouses” are covered with plastic, with 9% in glass. In northern Europe, glass-covered greenhouses make up 61% of the total, North America-20%, and in Asia only 2%.

Since the release of the January 2018 World Greenhouse Vegetable Statistics publication, many other new data tables have become available. Examples include: Turkey - Greenhouse Vegetable Production data - 2004-2017; Canadian Greenhouse Vegetable Trade balance – 2012-2016; Australia - Trends in Greenhouse Vegetable production- 2008-2016; New Zealand greenhouse vegetable area; Finland updates - 2014-2016; Mediterranean area countries- area, structure types, production methods; USA - Greenhouse Vegetable area and number of farms. This first quarter update is now available on request and at no charge to those that have the January 2018 publication in their library.

Cuesta Roble Consulting
www.cuestaroble.com
gwh@sti.net