Lily production spans two connected parts of the flower industry: bulbs grown for planting and cut stems sold for floral use. The Netherlands recorded 5.87 thousand hectares of lily bulb area and 395 lily-growing flower-bulb businesses in 2024. In the United States, growers sold 23,510 thousand Asiatic stems and 24,671 thousand Oriental stems in 2024, while Canadian growers cut 15.0 million lily stems in 2022.
Contents
- Netherlands lily bulb acreage
- Dutch lily-growing businesses
- United States cut-lily sales in 2024
- California’s role in 2024
- The 2019 U.S. baseline
- Wholesale and retail channels
Netherlands lily bulb acreage
The Netherlands series from Statistics Netherlands measures the area used for lilies within the country’s flower-bulb cultivation. It is reported in thousand hectares, so the figures describe land area rather than the number of bulbs or cut stems. The period runs from 2014 through 2024.
| Year | Lily area (thousand hectares) |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 5.22 |
| 2015 | 5.84 |
| 2016 | 6.07 |
| 2017 | 6.43 |
| 2018 | 6.42 |
| 2019 | 6.02 |
| 2020 | 5.28 |
| 2021 | 5.81 |
| 2022 | 6.25 |
| 2023 | 6.26 |
| 2024 | 5.87 |
The largest recorded area in this series was 6.43 thousand hectares in 2017. The next year was nearly identical at 6.42 thousand hectares. Area then measured 6.02 thousand hectares in 2019 and 5.28 thousand hectares in 2020. It recovered to 5.81 thousand hectares in 2021, 6.25 thousand hectares in 2022, and 6.26 thousand hectares in 2023 before reaching 5.87 thousand hectares in 2024.
The 2014 figure was 5.22 thousand hectares. That makes the reported 2024 area higher than the 2014 level within this source series, while remaining below the 2017 peak. These are annual cultivation-area observations from the Netherlands, not estimates of worldwide lily production. The source is Statistics Netherlands, “Area used to grow flower bulbs has increased in 10 years, decreased in 2024”.
Dutch lily-growing businesses
The same Statistics Netherlands source reports the number of flower-bulb businesses cultivating lilies. This is a business count, not a count of fields, facilities, employees, or stems. It provides a second way to view the Dutch production base alongside acreage.
| Year | Businesses cultivating lilies |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 345 |
| 2015 | 385 |
| 2016 | 414 |
| 2017 | 427 |
| 2018 | 382 |
| 2019 | 363 |
| 2020 | 324 |
| 2021 | 346 |
| 2022 | 392 |
| 2023 | 409 |
| 2024 | 395 |
The number of businesses rose from 345 in 2014 to 427 in 2017, the highest count in the supplied period. It then fell to 382 in 2018, 363 in 2019, and 324 in 2020. The count increased again to 346 in 2021, 392 in 2022, and 409 in 2023, before registering 395 in 2024.
The area and business series move through similar broad phases, but they are different measurements. In 2024, 395 businesses were associated with 5.87 thousand hectares of lily cultivation. In 2017, the comparison was 427 businesses and 6.43 thousand hectares. The source does not state that every business cultivated the same area, so the figures should be read as separate indicators rather than as a basis for an unsupported average.
United States cut-lily sales in 2024
The USDA/NASS 2024 Census of Horticulture Specialties data reports U.S. cut-lily sales through all sales channels by type. The stem quantities below are in thousands, and the sales values are in thousands of dollars. The operations column identifies the number of reporting operations for each category.
| Lily type | Stems sold (thousand) | Operations | Sales value (thousand dollars) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asiatic | 23,510 | 261 | 17,318 |
| Oriental | 24,671 | 248 | 25,545 |
| Other | 4,884 | 112 | 4,885 |
Oriental lilies had the largest reported U.S. stem volume in 2024 at 24,671 thousand stems, followed by Asiatic lilies at 23,510 thousand and other lilies at 4,884 thousand. Oriental lilies also had the highest reported sales value, 25,545 thousand dollars. Asiatic sales were valued at 17,318 thousand dollars, while other lily sales were valued at 4,885 thousand dollars.
The operation counts were 261 for Asiatic lilies, 248 for Oriental lilies, and 112 for other lilies. These counts are category-specific reporting measures. They should not be treated as a unique total number of U.S. lily farms because one operation may appear in more than one category.
These figures describe 2024 U.S. cut-lily sales through all sales, rather than bulb acreage. The source label is USDA/NASS, “2024 CHS United States Data”. The publication is the reference for the reported 2024 measures.
California’s role in 2024
California’s 2024 state data provides a detailed view of one U.S. production location. California growers sold 22,006 thousand Asiatic stems through all sales, with 27 operations reporting and a sales value of 15,187 thousand dollars. For Oriental lilies, the state recorded 23,186 thousand stems, 18 operations, and 23,122 thousand dollars in sales value.
The state also reported 2,667 thousand stems of other lilies through all sales. Eight operations reported that category, with a sales value of 1,899 thousand dollars. The category pattern therefore resembles the national data: Oriental and Asiatic lilies account for the largest reported stem volumes, while other lilies are lower.
| California lily type, 2024 | Stems sold (thousand) | Operations | Sales value (thousand dollars) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asiatic | 22,006 | 27 | 15,187 |
| Oriental | 23,186 | 18 | 23,122 |
| Other | 2,667 | 8 | 1,899 |
The California source is USDA/NASS, “Table 12. Cut Flowers Sold: 2024 (continued) — 2024 CHS State Data”. The operation totals are reported separately by lily type, so they do not establish a unique statewide grower count.
Statistics Canada reported a different measure for a different period: Canadian growers cut 15.0 million lily stems in 2022. That figure is a production measure, while the U.S. and California figures above are sales-through-all-channels measures for 2024. The Canadian source is Statistics Canada, “Celebrating mothers in Canada”. Because the years and measures differ, the Canadian figure should not be combined directly with the 2024 U.S. sales figures.
The 2019 U.S. baseline
The USDA/NASS 2019 data supplies an earlier U.S. baseline for the same broad cut-lily categories. U.S. growers sold 31,322 thousand Asiatic stems through all sales, with 206 operations reporting and a sales value of 16,464 thousand dollars. Oriental lilies totaled 36,026 thousand stems, 167 operations, and 34,253 thousand dollars. Other lilies totaled 5,773 thousand stems, 100 operations, and 4,225 thousand dollars.
California’s 2019 figures were 28,834 thousand Asiatic stems from 33 operations, valued at 13,275 thousand dollars; 33,989 thousand Oriental stems from 29 operations, valued at 30,703 thousand dollars; and 3,929 thousand other-lily stems from 17 operations, valued at 2,436 thousand dollars.
The source also reports a Washington Asiatic total of 34 thousand stems from 38 operations in 2019. Of that Washington total, 3 thousand stems were sold wholesale and 31 thousand retail. The Washington figures are reported without a sales value in the supplied data.
The 2019 U.S. source is USDA/NASS, “Table 12. Cut Flowers and Cut Lei Flowers Sold: 2019 (continued)”. These historical figures remain identified as 2019 observations; they are not presented as current measurements or as independently verified legacy data.
Wholesale and retail channels
The 2019 U.S. table separates sales by channel. For Asiatic lilies, wholesale sales covered 31,201 thousand stems, valued at 16,298 thousand dollars, from 85 operations. Retail sales covered 121 thousand stems, valued at 166 thousand dollars, from 129 operations.
For Oriental lilies, wholesale sales covered 35,767 thousand stems and were valued at 33,614 thousand dollars from 50 operations. Retail sales covered 259 thousand stems, valued at 639 thousand dollars, from 122 operations. For other lilies, wholesale sales covered 5,739 thousand stems, valued at 4,139 thousand dollars, from 32 operations, while retail sales covered 34 thousand stems, valued at 87 thousand dollars, from 70 operations.
California’s channel detail shows the same categories in a state-level context. In 2019, California Asiatic wholesale sales involved 22 operations and were valued at 13,247 thousand dollars; Asiatic retail sales involved 11 operations and were valued at 27 thousand dollars. California Oriental wholesale sales involved 21 operations, covered 33,914 thousand stems, and were valued at 30,597 thousand dollars. Oriental retail sales involved 8 operations, covered 75 thousand stems, and were valued at 107 thousand dollars.
For other lilies in California, wholesale sales involved 10 operations, covered 3,927 thousand stems, and were valued at 2,433 thousand dollars. Retail sales involved 7 operations, covered 1 thousand stems, and were valued at 4 thousand dollars. These channel-specific operation counts can overlap with one another and with the all-sales counts.
Taken together, the channel figures show how the 2019 totals were reported: wholesale and retail observations are separate entries, while the all-sales observations describe the category’s overall reported sales. The data supports comparisons of the stated measures by year, place, lily type, and channel; it does not support adding overlapping operation counts or treating every stem measure as directly comparable across periods.