The average income of agricultural enterprises in the European Union increased between 2007 and 2018, but remained at a relatively low level. The average business result rose in those ten years from 28,800 to 35,300 euros.
Direct EU agricultural subsidies accounted for an average of 28% of farm income, with large differences between countries. This emerges from the latest analysis of data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN), recently presented by the Directorate-General for Agriculture of the European Commission (DG AGRI).
In Lithuania, the share of CAP subsidies was the highest at 70%, followed by Finland and Estonia with 67% and 66% respectively. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, premiums represented only 9% of farm income. This mainly applies to agriculture, dairy, poultry, and mixed farms, and much less to wine growers and horticulture.
However, there are significant differences not only between member states but also between age groups and genders. The highest amounts per work unit were generated in the northwest of the EU and the lowest in the east.
Farms run by women achieved on average 38% lower incomes. According to the report, female farm managers usually run smaller farms, both in terms of area and production volume.
As expected, the analysis also shows major differences between the EU countries in terms of farm structures. The highest assets are found in Dutch and Danish farms, averaging about 3.1 million and 2.7 million euros respectively. This is mainly due to very high land prices and the large share of investment-intensive farm types in these two countries. Farms in Romania had the smallest assets at 55,000 euros.
An average agricultural holding in the EU in 2018 was 37 hectares in size. But here too there are considerable differences. In Slovakia, the average was 445 hectares, while in Malta it was 3 hectares. The majority of the real estate is owned by others. Across the entire community, 56% of arable land was leased.