Drivers of Organic Product Consumption in the EU: A Sustainable Development Perspective

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to assess the diversification of consumption of organic products in the Member States of the European Union and to identify the key determinants that significantly influence per capita consumption of organic products. Data on the indicators for the period 2014–2022 were collected from the reports of the 21 European countries for the study. Common model, fixed effects panel linear regression with a dummy variable, and multilevel models equivalent to random effects panel regression models with maximum likelihood random effects and correlation methods were used to estimate per capita consumption of organic products. The analyses carried out have shown that the consumption of organic products in EU member states is characterized by a significant degree of variation. Denmark, Austria, and Sweden incurred the highest expenditures for this product group. One of the econometric models used in the study showed that GDP is an important driver of the per capita consumption of organic products, while the other two models used in the analysis did not show this relationship. The study showed that organic area as a percentage of total agricultural area, organic producers, and organic retail sales are significant predictors of organic consumption per capita. However, the impacts of CAP support on organic consumption have not been confirmed.