New Organic Certifications Surge Nearly 200% in 2024, Straining Agencies and Staff

How much growth did organic certification agencies experience in 2024?

I analyzed the data in the USDA Organic Integrity Database to compare the number of first-time organic certifications by year for the past ten years.

The charted data looks shocking. It shows an increase of 9,429 new certifications in 2024 – growth of almost 200% compared to 2023 when 4918 new certifications were granted. The dramatic doubling of new certifications may help to explain complaints of slow certification times and signs of burnout from organic certifiers.

New organic certifications by year; Data from the USDA Organic Integrity Database.

According to data available for analysis in the USDA Organic Integrity Database, of the 9,429 new certifications in 2024, 35% of them were granted by just six organic certification agencies with Ecocert, CCOF, and QAI churning out the most new certifications.

Ecocert granted 959 new certifications in 2024, which is 22% of the total number of their organic certified operations (4,433) and an estimated growth of roughly 28% over 2023. The majority of Ecocert’s growth occurred in the US (167), China (157), India (144), Brazil (70), and Chile (61).

CCOF granted 612 new certifications in 2024, which is about 14% of the total number of their organic certified operations (4,316) and an estimated growth of roughly 17% over 2023. Most of the new CCOF certifications were in the US.