Carnation production statistics show a crop shaped by both large export industries and intensive protected cultivation. Colombia provides the clearest export-scale example, while historical data from India, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka shows how production area, technology, and market structure vary by location. The figures below retain each source’s date, geography, units, and definitions.
Contents
- Colombia’s production footprint and exports
- Historical Colombian area and market structure
- Karnataka area, output, yield, and value
- Protected-polyhouse production and returns
- Malaysia and Sri Lanka
- Productivity, costs, and planting benchmarks
Colombia’s production footprint and exports
Colombia is one of the most important reference points for carnation production because its flower industry is organized around international trade. The Colombian Institute of Agriculture (ICA) reports a current flower-and-cut-branch production footprint of about 9,404.8 hectares. Carnations represented 13.7% of cultivated species area in that figure. The page is identified as a current figure accessed in 2026, so it should not be treated as a historical annual series. (ICA, “Departamentos productores de flores y ramas de corte”)
A separate ICA report gives a broader 2026 estimate of 11,200 hectares devoted to flower production. Cundinamarca accounted for 70% of that area and Antioquia for 28%, meaning the two departments together represented 98% of the reported national total. These are broader flower-sector figures rather than carnation-only hectares. (ICA, “Flores colombianas: exportaciones para el Día de la Madre”)
The same 2026 report places Colombia’s flower exports at 340,000 tonnes in 2025, valued at US$2.4 billion. In January 2026, international shipments reached 26,204 tonnes, which the report says was 12% higher than January 2025. Floriculture contributed 5.8% of national agricultural production in the 2026 report. Together, these statistics describe the commercial scale surrounding export crops such as carnations, but they do not isolate carnation tonnage or carnation export value.
The ICA also reports a crop-specific innovation and export measure: newly developed Colombian carnation varieties generated more than 519 million exported stems during 2024 through August 2024. Those varieties were shipped to more than 10 countries. This stem count concerns the certified new varieties, not all Colombian carnations or all Colombian flowers. (ICA, “El ICA certifica la exportación de nuevas variedades de claveles a más de 10 países”)
Historical Colombian area and market structure
The 2015 OECD review provides an earlier benchmark for Colombia’s flower industry. It records approximately 6,892 hectares cultivated with flowers around 2014–2015. Cundinamarca contained about 4,899 hectares, while Antioquia contained about 1,593 hectares. Smaller recorded areas included approximately 61 hectares in Boyacá and 29 hectares in Valle del Cauca. These figures are historical and are not directly interchangeable with the later ICA area totals, which use a different reporting period and context. (OECD, “Review of Agricultural Policies: Colombia 2015”)
Carnations occupied 16.8% of Colombia’s total flower-production area in the OECD review. The review also estimated approximately 80,000 direct jobs in the Colombian flower sector. About 95% of production was exported in 2014, emphasizing how strongly the industry was tied to overseas markets even in the earlier period.
| Historical Colombian measure | Reported figure | Period or date |
|---|---|---|
| Total flower area | 6,892 hectares | Around 2014–2015 |
| Cundinamarca area | 4,899 hectares | Around 2014–2015 |
| Antioquia area | 1,593 hectares | Around 2014–2015 |
| Carnation share of area | 16.8% | Around 2014–2015 |
| Flower-sector direct jobs | 80,000 | Around 2014–2015 |
| Production exported | 95% | 2014 |
The change from the historical 6,892-hectare figure to the later reported totals should be read as a comparison of dated reports, not as a calculated growth rate. The sources do not establish that the categories, survey methods, or boundaries are identical.
Karnataka area, output, yield, and value
An Indian study of cut-flower production records substantial year-to-year differences in Karnataka’s carnation statistics. In 2005–06, the state had 30 hectares of carnation area, 201 lakh cut flowers, a reported yield of 6.68 in the study’s lakh-cut-flower yield units, and production value of Rs 661 lakh. The study retains these units, so the yield figure is not converted here. (“A Study on Production and Marketing of Cut Flowers”)
For 2006–07, the same source records 173 hectares, 73 lakh cut flowers, a yield of 0.42 in the same reporting convention, and production value of Rs 283 lakh. The two years therefore show different combinations of reported area, output, yield, and value. Because the supplied figures use the study’s own units and definitions, they should be used as historical observations rather than recalculated productivity comparisons.
| Karnataka carnation measure | 2005–06 | 2006–07 |
|---|---|---|
| Area | 30 hectares | 173 hectares |
| Cut flowers | 201 lakh | 73 lakh |
| Reported yield unit | 6.68 | 0.42 |
| Production value | Rs 661 lakh | Rs 283 lakh |
These Karnataka statistics are useful because they place area, physical output, the source’s yield measure, and monetary value side by side. They are not a current state census, and the source does not support adding them to the Colombian, Malaysian, or Sri Lankan totals.
Protected-polyhouse production and returns
Protected cultivation data illustrates how farm scale can affect carnation output and economics. A study of sampled polyhouses reports annual production in boxes, with each box defined as 900 spikes. Small polyhouses produced 117 boxes per year, medium units produced 358, and large units produced 812. Across the sample, the average was 445 boxes per year. (“Production and Marketing of Flowers and Vegetables”)
The reported production cost per 900-spike box averaged Rs 2,034 for small polyhouses, Rs 1,731 for medium polyhouses, and Rs 1,636 for large polyhouses. The overall average was Rs 1,734 per box. The corresponding average market values were Rs 3,330, Rs 3,510, and Rs 3,555 per box for small, medium, and large units, with an overall average of Rs 3,484.
The study reports average returns of Rs 1,296 per 900-spike box for small polyhouses, Rs 1,779 for medium units, and Rs 1,919 for large units. The overall average return was Rs 1,749 per box. Its output-input ratios were 1:1.64 for small polyhouses, 1:2.03 for medium polyhouses, 1:2.17 for large polyhouses, and 1:2.01 overall.
| Polyhouse size | Annual boxes | Cost per box | Market value per box | Return per box | Output-input ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | 117 | Rs 2,034 | Rs 3,330 | Rs 1,296 | 1:1.64 |
| Medium | 358 | Rs 1,731 | Rs 3,510 | Rs 1,779 | 1:2.03 |
| Large | 812 | Rs 1,636 | Rs 3,555 | Rs 1,919 | 1:2.17 |
| Overall | 445 | Rs 1,734 | Rs 3,484 | Rs 1,749 | 1:2.01 |
These are study averages for sampled farms. They indicate the reported relationship between scale, cost, market value, and return in that study period; they are not a national estimate or a guaranteed current margin.
Malaysia and Sri Lanka
Malaysia’s national cut-flower report estimated more than 1,218 hectares of total cut-flower area in 1994. Temperate cut flowers accounted for 638 hectares. Carnations represented 9.02% of reported cut-flower production when measured by flower stalks. The percentage is a production-share statistic, while the area figures describe the broader cut-flower sector, so the measures should not be treated as equivalent. (FAO, “Cut Flower Production in Malaysia”)
Sri Lanka’s report describes more than 10 hectares of carnation production in fully protected poly tunnels. It also lists 9 American carnation cultivars and 9 Mediterranean carnation cultivars grown in the country. These are report-period figures from before 2000, not current cultivated area or current variety counts. (FAO, “Cut Flower Production in Sri Lanka”)
The two country examples show different kinds of production information: Malaysia’s statistic is a national cut-flower share from 1994, while Sri Lanka’s statistics describe a protected carnation base and cultivar groups during an earlier report period.
Productivity, costs, and planting benchmarks
Technical benchmarks provide a way to frame protected-carnation performance without treating every production system as identical. An Indian MANAGE bulletin gives a planting density range of 25 to 40 plants per square metre and an average greenhouse yield range of 200 to 300 stems per square metre per year. (MANAGE, “Hydroponics Bulletin”)
A West Bengal government flower-export brochure gives a narrower benchmark of 200 to 250 carnation flowers per square metre per year. (West Bengal, “Exports - Flowers”) The Telangana Centre of Excellence business plan states that standard carnation produces approximately 200 cut stems per square metre annually and that harvesting starts 120 to 160 days after planting. Those figures belong to the 2017–2021 plan period. (Telangana Centre of Excellence, “Business Plan (2017–2021)”)
The Colombian Ministry of Agriculture’s 2009 carnation research agenda reports commercial productivity of 150 to 220 stems per square metre per year. It estimates soil-grown production cost at 9 to 10 US cents per stem. The agenda says hydroponic production adds about 1 US cent per stem to soil-grown cost and reports that hydroponic costs can reach 11.5 US cents per stem. (Colombian Ministry of Agriculture, “Agenda prospectiva de investigación y desarrollo tecnológico para la cadena productiva del clavel”)
| Benchmark | Reported range or value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Planting density | 25–40 plants/m² | MANAGE bulletin period |
| Greenhouse yield | 200–300 stems/m²/year | MANAGE bulletin period |
| West Bengal yield | 200–250 flowers/m²/year | Brochure period |
| Telangana standard yield | About 200 stems/m²/year | 2017–2021 plan |
| Colombian commercial productivity | 150–220 stems/m²/year | 2009 |
| Soil-grown Colombian cost | US$0.09–$0.10/stem | 2009 |
| Hydroponic cost reported | Up to US$0.115/stem | 2009 |
Finally, a Chinese cut-flower report says a newly built company in Kunming had annual capacity for 10 million carnation cuttings. This is propagation capacity, not harvested flower production. (FAO, “Cut Flower Production in China”)