Important Findings From the 2025 Global CEA Census

The Global CEA Census serves as an annual barometer of the industry, providing a way to track confidence, challenges, and opportunities across the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) landscape. With the census now in its fifth year, Agritecture has once again partnered with CEAg World to survey the industry and share a comprehensive snapshot of where it stands today. This year’s survey gathered 478 responses across 57 countries, giving robust insight into global perspectives.

Expansion Appetite: Still Strong but Moderating

One of the most telling questions in the census—asked every year—focuses on plans for expansion. This provides a clear measure of both confidence and future expectations. Importantly, an operator typically only plans to expand under one of three conditions:

1. The current operation is profitable, and there is additional market share to capture.
2. The current operation is not yet profitable but sees tools or solutions to achieve profitability in the near term.
3. The current operation is not profitable but has a pending opportunity that would allow scaling toward profitability.

In 2025, 68.2% of operators said they plan to expand their facility within the next two years. While still a majority, this marks a decline from last year, when 84% answered “yes” to the expansion plans question.

This cooling trend is likely driven by tightened funding conditions and sharp increases in energy and input costs affected by the war in Ukraine. Looking more closely at facility types, we see the greatest appetite for expansion among vertical farms and the least interest in expansion among medium-tech greenhouses.

Overall, while expansion enthusiasm has declined, the data suggests operators remain committed to growth where they see viable pathways to profitability.

Energy and Labor: Persistent Headwinds

The two dominant challenges this year remain energy and labor costs.

1. Labor: More than 60% of operators reported labor costs accounting for more than 20% of their total operating expenses. High labor costs and scarcity are ongoing concerns across both indoor and open-field agriculture. Although automation and robotics are often proposed as solutions, most are either too expensive or not economically viable in many markets today.
2. Energy: High energy costs were again cited as a top concern. Even among operators that have attempted mitigation strategies—such as energy efficiency measures or renewable integration—the challenge remains stubbornly present.

Together, energy and labor continue to shape decision-making among CEA operators, slowing some expansion plans while motivating greater exploration of technological solutions.

For more findings from the 2025 Global CEA Census, continue reading at CEAgWorld.com.