EU agriculture: Facts and figures
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Agriculture is a major issue in the European Union and accounts for a large slice of EU spending. With agricultural policy reform a subject that gets a lot of people, not just farmers, hot under the collar we take a quick overview of just what's at stake:
Total area of land suitable for growing crops: 185 million hectares.
Rural areas account for 90% of the European Union territory, with more than half being used for agriculture.
Number of consumers: 500 million.
The average size of farm: 18 hectares.
Main agricultural products:
- Cattle, pigs, sheep, goats (21.4%)
- Cereals (16%)
- Olive oil (16%)
Leading agricultural producers:
- France (20.3% of total EU product)
- Italy (14.2%)
- Spain (12.7%)
Average productivity per hectare: 4.7 tonnes
Organic farming: 3.7% of agricultural land.
The price of a hectare of farmland:
- Austria: 10,000 euros
- Romania: 2,000 euros
- Poland: 5,000 euros
Total value of agricultural exports (2006): 72.553 billion euros
Total value of agricultural imports (2006): 67.876 billion euros
Total EU direct aid and subsidies for agriculture (2008): 43.3 billion euros (37% of the European Union budget)
- France: 10 billion euros
- Italy: 5.4 million euros
Farmers’ income fell 12.2% in 2009 compared to 2008
- Hungary (-35.6%)
- Italy (-25.3%)
Average farmer’s contribution to gross domestic product: 18,387 euros/year
- Romania: 4,116 euros/year
- France: 48,661 euros/year
- Netherlands: 68,680 euros/year
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Thanks for this sharing.
