Bulgaria will become the second-largest producer of sunflowers in Europe, with a projected harvest of nearly 2.1 million metric tons. France ranks third, with nearly 1.5 million metric tons.
However, weather conditions in the second half of the season remain the main risk to realizing production potential. High temperatures and water shortages have already impacted the potential yield of oilseed crops in several regions. Incidentally, France is among the hardest-hit countries, where sunflower crops are experiencing the longest drought.
Nevertheless, according to European Commission estimates, thanks to an expansion of planted acreage (+5%, to 4.9 million hectares), European farmers could harvest the largest crop in the past three seasons in 2026—just over 9.5 million metric tons of sunflowers (+9% from the previous year). The expected average sunflower yield in the EU this year is 1.95 metric tons per hectare, which is slightly higher than the long-term average.
Logos Press previously reported that in Moldova, the projected average sunflower yield in 2026 will exceed 2 metric tons per hectare.
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