A majority of EU countries, including Ireland, have estimated falls in agricultural income during 2023, according to new research released by Eurostat today (Wednesday, November 13).
The Eurostat economic accounts for agriculture (EAA) for 2023 published today show that the sharpest rates of decline were in Estonia where agricultural income was down 61.4%.
However it also fell in Lithuania by 47.4%, Latvia by 36.2% and Ireland where it fell by 34.6% and Sweden, where it declined by 30.3%.
There were only a handful of EU countries where the index of agricultural income increased in 2023 with the highest rates recorded in Belgium, where it rose 27.3% and Spain by 12.9%.
Eurostat
In general agriculture output in the EU fell slightly by 1.5% last year and was valued at at €537.1 billion – a 1.5% decrease compared with the 2022 result €545.4 billion.
Although the total volume of agricultural output in the EU in 2023 was a “little lower than in 2022”, there were however 10 EU countries which recorded volumes were higher.
These included Hungary, where it rose by 26%and Slovakia, which saw an increase of 12%.
But there were sharp decreases in Greece, where agricultural output dropped by 16%, Estonia, Latvia, Spain – where it fell by 9% and Sweden, which saw an 8% decline.
The latest statistics show that more than half (51%) of the value of the EU’s agricultural output in 2023 came from crops – valued at €273.6 billion, which is 6% down compared with 2022 – and 40% came from animals and animal products, valued at €214.3 billion which is an increase of 2% compared with 2022.
The remaining share came from agricultural services and secondary activities.
According to Eurostat agriculture contributed 1.3% to the EU’s GDP in 2023 which means that the agricultural sector contributed €218.1 billion towards the EU’s overall GDP in 2023.
The statistical agency has highlighted that the contribution of agriculture to the EU’s economy was very similar to the GDP of Greece in 2023 – the 16th largest economy among the EU countries.