Area used to grow flower bulbs has increased in 10 years, decreased in 2024

© ANP / Robin Utrecht
In 2024, flower bulbs were cultivated over an area of arable land of more than 27 thousand hectares. That was 16 percent more than in 2014. More tulips were grown, in particular, as well as lilies and other bulbs and tubers. In 2024, the area used to cultivate flower bulbs decreased slightly compared to 2023, down by 3 percent. This is according to final figures taken from the Agricultural Census conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
The total area of land used to cultivate flower bulbs increased by 16 percent to 3.8 thousand hectares in 2024, compared to 2014. More than half of the area of land used for flower bulb cultivation is dedicated to tulips. In ten years, this area has grown by 29 percent to over 14 thousand hectares. In 2024, it decreased by 2 percent compared to 2023.

The area used to grow lilies also increased by 12 percent to 5.9 thousand hectares during the same ten-year period. This makes lilies the second largest of all bulb crops. In 2024, lilies accounted for over 21 percent of the total area used to cultivate flower bulbs. The area used to grow lilies was down by 6 percent from 2023.


More than half of flower bulb farms grow tulips

More than 1,600 farms were active in flower bulb cultivation in 2024, an increase of 8 percent compared to a decade earlier. The reason for this is that more farms have started growing lilies and tulips.

A total of 56 percent of farms were engaged in tulip cultivation, 24 percent grew lilies and 26 percent were active in cultivating other bulbs and tubers.

The share of farms growing lilies has hardly changed in 10 years, while the share of growers cultivating other bulbs and tubers has decreased by 3 percent. The share of farms growing daffodils fell from 20 percent to 12 percent.


Extensive bulb cultivation in the IJsselmeerpolders and Westelijk Holland

Compared to the rest of the Netherlands, the largest bulb-growing areas are in the agricultural regions of Westelijk Holland (35 percent of the total area of arable crops) and IJsselmeerpolders (34 percent).

In 2024, 9.6 thousand hectares of land in Westelijk Holland were used to cultivate flower bulbs, down by 3 percent from the previous five years. In the IJsselmeerpolders, this amounted to over 9.3 thousand hectares, up by 2 percent on 2019. In order to calculate the total area of land used to cultivate bulbs, the regions in which the fields are actually located were taken into account.

The majority of tulips are grown in the agricultural regions of IJsselmeerpolders (49 percent of the total area of arable crops) and Westelijk Holland (33 percent). Daffodils, hyacinths and dahlias are mainly grown in Westelijk Holland, while lilies and gladioli are grown throughout the Netherlands.