In 2022, across the European Union, the amount of mineral fertilizers (nitrogen and phosphorus) used in agricultural production was 9.8 million tonnes. This represented a sharp decline (-10.3%) compared to the quantity used in 2021 and a cumulative decline of 15.9% compared to the peak in 2017. This was reported by Eurostat.

The decline in the use of mineral fertilizers in the EU in 2022 is partly associated by Eurostat with the "sharp increase in fertilizer prices following Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and the application of sanctions on Russia, such as outlined in the Commission Communication "Safeguarding food security and strengthening the resilience of food systems".

Within mineral fertilisers, the use of nitrogen-based materials in EU agricultural production was reduced to around 8.9 million tonnes in 2022, representing an annual decrease of 9.4%. The use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture was highest in countries that are also among the main agricultural producers in the EU, in particular in France (2 million tonnes) and Germany (1.1 million tonnes) .

In 2022, the use of phosphorus fertilizers in EU agriculture was 0.9 million tonnes. This equates to a decline of 17.9% compared to the amount used in 2021.
The countries with the highest use of phosphorus fertilizers in agriculture in 2022 were France, Spain, Italy and Romania, which together accounted for around half of total EU use.