BERLIN — The economic accounts for agriculture show that total agricultural output in the European Union (EU) stood at €405.0 billion at basic prices in 2016, down by 2.8% compared with 2015. In 2016, the equivalent of 59% of the value of agricultural output generated was spent on intermediate consumption (input goods and services), while gross value added (i.e. the value of output minus the value of intermediate consumption) was the equivalent of 41% (or €165.7 bn).
With €70.3 bn (or 17% of the EU total) in 2016, France had the highest total agricultural output across Member States. It was followed by Italy (€53.4 bn, or 13%), Germany (€52.9bn, or 13%), Spain (€46.8 bn, or 12%), the United Kingdom (€27.9 bn, or 7%), the Netherlands (€27.0 bn, or 7%), Poland (€22.4 bn, or 6%) and Romania (€15.4 bn, or 4%).
This information comes from final data issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Highest rise of agricultural output in Slovakia, largest fall in Estonia
In 2016 compared with 2015, the value of agricultural output followed contrasting patterns between the EU Member States. In relative terms, the highest increase was recorded in Slovakia (+10.7%), ahead of Poland (+4.6%), Hungary (+4.1%), the Czech Republic (+3.5%) and Croatia (+3.4%). In contrast, the largest fall was registered in Estonia (-19.8%), followed by Latvia (-8.3%), France (-6.5%), Denmark (-5.4%) and Slovenia (-5.2%).
Significant decrease in the value of cereals, milk and cattle output
The value of agricultural production is influenced by a price change or a volume change (or a combination of the two).
The 2.8% decrease in EU agricultural output in 2016 compared with 2015 can be mainly attributed to a fall (by 3.3%) in the value of animal output, mainly due to a decrease in prices (by 4.9%), partly compensated by an increase in volume (by 1.7%). This overall decrease in the value of animal output is mainly due to falls by 5.2% for milk and by 3.6% for cattle.
The value of crop output decreased in the EU by 2.5% with prices down by 1.8% and volume down by 0.7%. The decrease of 13.5% registered for cereals was partly compensated by increases of 23.5% for potatoes, of 4.5% for forage plants and of 2.7% for industrial crops.
EU agricultural input costs (intermediate consumption) have decreased by 3.4%. This was partly due to a decline of 8.6% for fertilisers and soil improvement, of 7.8% for energy and lubricants, of 5.1% for maintenance of buildings and of 2.7% for animal feeding stuffs.
Geographical information
The European Union (EU) includes Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Methods and definitions
The final data presented in this News Release have been compiled by the national authorities in the Member States of the European Union in accordance with the methodology of the Economic Accounts for Agriculture (Regulation (EC) No 138/2004), as amended, which is close to the methodology of the national accounts but incorporates a number of changes to take account of the special features of the agricultural activity
The value of the agricultural output comprises the values of crop production, animal production, and “other items” i.e. agricultural services (for example, the processing of agricultural products, or agricultural contract work) and inseparable nonagricultural secondary activities (for example, certain agri-tourism activities).
Values at basic prices are values at producer prices from which taxes on products have been subtracted and subsidies on products have been added. Unless otherwise stated, all values are calculated using current prices and exchange rates.
The value of agricultural production reflects both the volume of production and the price of the product. Therefore, any change in the value must be attributed to either a price change or a volume change or a combination of the two.
To eliminate the effect of the exchange rate movements, the percentage change year n versus year n-1 is calculated for individual countries using the data in national currency.
For more information
Eurostat website section dedicated to agricultural statistics.
Eurostat database on agriculture.
—Eurostat Press Office
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