Lower Potato Harvest and Significant Price Increases
Germany Is Self-Sufficient in Potatoes
According to estimates, the 2026 potato harvest will be significantly smaller than the previous year’s, which will have an impact on potato prices at various stages of the supply chain. In September 2026, consumers had to pay 11.3% more for potatoes than in the same month the previous year, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). For processed potato products such as french fries or similar items (frozen), however, prices were 4.7% lower than in the same month of the previous year. Overall consumer prices rose by 3.3% in September 2026 compared with the same month a year earlier, with food prices rising by 0.4% overall.
Sharpest Rise in Producer Prices for Table Potatoes Since August 2023
One reason for the rise in consumer prices for potatoes is the significant price increases at the upstream stage: Producer prices for table potatoes in August 2026 were 61.5% higher than in the same month of the previous year. This was the sharpest year-over-year increase in producer prices for potatoes in three years (August 2023: +114.6% compared to August 2022). Overall, producer prices for agricultural products fell by 7.0% in August 2026 compared with August 2025; however, producer prices for crop products rose by 12.3%.
Potato Harvest, Planted Area, and Yield Declined in 2026
According to preliminary results, the 2026 potato harvest will total 10.4 million metric tons, just under a quarter (-24.8%) below the previous year’s harvest (13.9 million metric tons). The decline is not only due to the 11.1% reduction in cultivated area to 268,300 hectares (2025: 301,800 hectares). Yields per hectare are also expected to be significantly lower in 2026 than in the previous year: 38.9 metric tons per hectare are projected for 2026, compared to 46.0 metric tons per hectare in 2025. This represents a decline of 15.4%. The primary reason for this is likely the extreme heat and drought of this year’s summer.
Germany Is Self-Sufficient in Potatoes
Germany produces significantly more potatoes than are needed to meet domestic demand: According to preliminary data from the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE), the self-sufficiency rate for potatoes stood at 145% in the 2024/25 marketing year. A large portion of the potatoes and potato products is therefore not produced for the domestic market but is exported.
Methodological Notes: The Producer Price Index for Agricultural Products measures the trend in agricultural sales prices (excluding value-added tax) in Germany and thus reflects price trends at the primary production stage.
The Consumer Price Index measures the average price trend of all goods and services purchased by private households in Germany for consumption purposes.
The results for the potato harvest are preliminary figures for 2026. The results on potato acreage come from the Survey of Land Use on Agricultural Farms, and the results on yields come from the Special Harvest and Quality Survey.
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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