Official Statistics

Agricultural facts: East of England region

Updated 30 October 2025

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agricultural-facts-england-regional-profiles/agricultural-facts-east-of-england-region

Section 1: Key statistics

Figure 1.1: A map of England with the East of England region highlighted

Source: Office for National Statistics, Open Geography Portal

The East of England region comprises East Anglia, Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Key statistics for the East of England region

  • Total Income from Farming[footnote 1] in the East of England in 2024 was £881 million, an increase of £31 million (+3.7%) from 2023. This was a result of a decrease of £158 million (-6.1%) in total crop output, an increase of £12 million (+0.8%) in total livestock output and a decrease of £170 million (-6.2%) in intermediate consumption (Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England).
  • In 2024, the largest contributors to the output[footnote 2] value (£4.4 billion) were poultry (£740 million), wheat (£545 million), fresh vegetables (£506 million) and pigmeat (£380 million). These commodities accounted for 50% of the output (Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England).
  • The average farm size in 2024 was 130 hectares (Table 1.1). This is the second largest average farm size of all the English regions and larger than the English average of 87 hectares.
  • The predominant farm types in 2024 were cereal (36% of the region’s holdings) and general cropping (27% of the region’s holdings) farms (Figure 1.7). Although pig farms only accounted for 3.9% of the region’s holdings, the region accounted for 28% of the English pig population (Table 1.3).
  • In 2023/24 (covering the 2023 harvest), the average Farm Business Income[footnote 3] across all farm types was £59,600 per farm, which was a decrease of 51% from 2022/23 (Figure 1.9).

Figure 1.2: Total Income from Farming from 2019 to 2024 in current prices (£ million)

Year Total Income from Farming
2019 683
2020 510
2021 897
2022 1,073
2023 850
2024 881

Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England

Figure 1.3: Outputs and subsidies split by percentage from 2019 to 2024 (£ million)

Year Total livestock output Total crop output Subsidies (excluding tax) Diversification Other agricultural activities
2019 1,063
(28%)		 2,100
(54%)		 309
(8.0%)		 199
(5.2%)		 182
(4.7%)
2020 1,128
(31%)		 1,796
(50%)		 301
(8.4%)		 201
(5.6%)		 175
(4.9%)
2021 1,198
(28%)		 2,312
(55%)		 293
(6.9%)		 227
(5.4%)		 191
(4.5%)
2022 1,287
(27%)		 2,842
(59%)		 253
(5.2%)		 247
(5.1%)		 225
(4.6%)
2023 1,404
(30%)		 2,602
(55%)		 245
(5.2%)		 260
(5.5%)		 237
(5.0%)
2024 1,416
(31%)		 2,445
(53%)		 273
(5.9%)		 267
(5.8%)		 237
(5.1%)

Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England

Figure 1.4: Inputs and costs split by percentage from 2019 to 2024 (£ million)

Year Total intermediate consumption Total consumption of fixed capital Compensation of employees Rent and other associated costs
2019 2,170
(70%)		 501
(16%)		 364
(12%)		 85
(2.7%)
2020 2,094
(69%)		 497
(16%)		 372
(12%)		 83
(2.7%)
2021 2,302
(70%)		 515
(16%)		 382
(12%)		 84
(2.5%)
2022 2,674
(72%)		 569
(15%)		 403
(11%)		 83
(2.2%)
2023 2,744
(72%)		 586
(15%)		 399
(10%)		 82
(2.1%)
2024 2,573
(70%)		 605
(17%)		 393
(11%)		 80
(2.2%)

Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England

Figure 1.5: Distribution of farms by size in 2024 (percentage of farm holdings)

Region <5 ha 5<20 ha 20<50 ha 50<100 ha ≥100 ha Total
East of England 13% 21% 17% 15% 34% 100%
England 14% 27% 20% 16% 24% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. “ha” means “hectares”.

  2. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Figure 1.6: Distribution of farms by size in 2024 (percentage of farmed area)

Region <5 ha 5<20 ha 20<50 ha 50<100 ha ≥100 ha Total
East of England 0.2% 1.8% 4.4% 8.3% 85% 100%
England 0.3% 3.4% 7.6% 13% 76% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. “ha” means “hectares”.

  2. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Table 1.1: Land use in 2024

Measure East of England England
Total farmed area (thousand hectares) 1,417 8,877
Average farm size (hectares) 130 87
Rented (% of farmed area) 28% 32%
Arable (% of farmed area) 80% 55%
Permanent pasture (% of farmed area) 11% 33%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Arable includes arable crops, uncropped arable land and temporary grass.

  2. Rented land must be rented for at least one year.

Table 1.2: Crop areas in 2024 (thousand hectares)

Crop East of England England East of England as % of England
Wheat 397 1,402 28%
Barley 206 849 24%
Oilseed rape 51 250 21%
Sugar beet
(not for stockfeed)		 66 103 64%
Potatoes 27 83 33%
Field veg 22 73 31%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Crops displayed are those more predominant in the area.

  2. Further data notes on crops can be found below the relevant tables in the statistical dataset for England’s regional breakdown of the structure of the agricultural industry at June.

Table 1.3: Livestock numbers in 2024 (thousand head)

Livestock East of England England East of England as % of England
Cattle 163 4,752 3.4%
Dairy herd 12 1,046 1.2%
Beef herd 35 570 6.1%
Pigs 1,032 3,680 28%
Sheep 326 13,831 2.4%
Poultry 30,104 128,581 23%
Laying flock 2,155 23,344 9.2%
Table chickens 23,313 87,924 27%
Turkeys 1,015 3,123 33%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Livestock displayed are those more predominant in the area.

  2. Cattle numbers relate to commercial holdings only.

  3. Sheep numbers include lambs.

Figure 1.7: Distribution of farms by type in 2024 (percentage of farm holdings)

Region Cereals General cropping Horticulture Dairy Grazing livestock Mixed Pigs, Poultry & Other Total
East of England 36% 27% 4.3% 0.5% 18% 5.3% 9.2% 100%
England 16% 21% 3.3% 4.9% 42% 7.0% 5.6% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

  2. “Other” refers to unclassified farm types.

Figure 1.8: Distribution of farms by type in 2024 (percentage of farmed area)

Region Cereals General cropping Horticulture Dairy Grazing livestock Mixed Pigs, Poultry & Other Total
East of England 52% 32% 1.9% 0.7% 6.0% 4.7% 2.5% 100%
England 33% 17% 1.9% 8.3% 28% 9.3% 2.0% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

  2. “Other” refers to unclassified farm types.

Figure 1.9: Average Farm Business Income in 2022/23 and 2023/24 (£ per farm)

Farm type East of England England
All farm types
(2023/24)		 59,600
(±25,100)		 45,300
(±6,500)
Cereals
(2023/24)		 43,900
(±39,100)		 39,400
(±12,700)
General cropping
(2023/24)		 139,000
(±61,200)		 95,300
(±23,800)
All farm types
(2022/23)		 122,400
(±37,300)		 97,100
(±9,000)
Cereals
(2022/23)		 125,500
(±50,200)		 146,400
(±22,900)
General cropping
(2022/23)		 163,600
(±98,000)		 126,000
(±38,400)

Source: Defra, Farm Business Survey (regional breakdown not published elsewhere)

Notes:

  1. The Farm Business Survey year runs, on average, from March to February.

  2. Excludes farms with less than £21,000 of standard output.

  3. Farm types displayed are those more predominant in the area.

  4. Lines or values in parentheses indicate the 95% confidence intervals.

  5. In a given Farm Business Survey year, the sample size for some farm types can be relatively small. This means that individual farms can have a large influence on the results, and the results should be treated with caution. See the Farm Business Income by type of farm in England publication for more information.

  6. Values are rounded to the nearest £100.

  7. Data correct as at October 2025.

Table 1.4: Labour force in 2024 (number of people)

Measure East of England England East of England as % of England
Total labour 34,496 284,797 12%
Total labour per farm 3.2 2.8 [z]
Regular workers 9,555 65,556 15%
Regular workers per farm 0.9 0.6 [z]
Casual workers 4,835 34,309 14%
Casual workers per farm 0.4 0.3 [z]
% full time 47% 47% [z]
% part time 33% 37% [z]
% casual 14% 12% [z]

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. “[z]” means “not applicable”.

  2. Total labour includes farmers, partners, directors, spouses, salaried managers, regular and casual workers.

  3. Casual workers are those usually employed for less than 20 weeks of the year.

  4. Number of workers per farm calculations are averages based on the total number of farm holdings in the region.

  5. Part time workers are those employed for less than 39 hours a week.

  6. Percentage calculations for full and part time workers do not include salaried managers.

Section 2: Data notes

Figures are for commercial holdings as at June 2024 (unless stated otherwise). Commercial holdings are those with levels of farming activity above a specified threshold as detailed in this publication’s guidance note. For further information about the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture please visit our survey notes and guidance page on GOV.UK.

“Region” in this statistical notice refers to International Territorial Level 1 (ITL1) for England. The ITL1 regions for Greater London and the South East have been combined in this statistical notice due to the fact that London has such a small farming infrastructure.

This release contains the latest data available at the time of publishing. As a result, reference periods may vary. TIFF and FBI represent data from distinct time periods: TIFF covers January to December 2024, while FBI spans March 2023 to February 2024. As these metrics reflect different reporting periods, direct comparisons between the two should be avoided.

Section 3: Other geographical breakdowns

Defra June Survey data aggregated at other geographical classifications can be found in the Structure of the agricultural industry in England and the UK at June statistical data set on GOV.UK.

England regional data for aggregate agricultural accounts (including data at ITL2 and ITL3) can be found in the Total Income from Farming for the regions of England publication on GOV.UK.

Section 4: Contact details

Team: Farming Statistics - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Email: AUK_stats_team@defra.gov.uk

For media queries between 9am and 5pm on weekdays:

Telephone: 0330 041 6560

Email: newsdesk@defra.gov.uk

  1. Total Income from Farming (TIFF) is the net income to farms once costs have been accounted for, so is calculated as “outputs & subsidies” minus “inputs & costs”. More information on aggregate agricultural accounts can be found on GOV.UK. ↩

  2. Output is the total value (at market prices) of commodities produced without considering production costs or any additional income received through subsidies. More information on aggregate agricultural accounts can be found on GOV.UK. ↩

  3. In simple terms, Farm Business Income (FBI) is the output generated by the farm business minus total farm costs. More information on Farm Business Income can be found on GOV.UK. ↩

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