Accredited official statistics

Summary

Published 10 July 2025

All figures relate to 2024 and the change between 2023 and 2024 unless otherwise stated.

Summary

Structure of industry

• The utilised agricultural area (UAA) decreased by 1.5% and was 17 million hectares, covering 69% of land in the UK.

• The total croppable area increased by 1.3% in 2024 and was 6.2 million hectares.

• The cereal crops area decreased by 3.9% and was 3.0 million hectares.

• The area of oilseed crops planted decreased by 24% and was 317 thousand hectares.

• The total number of cattle and calves decreased by 1.5% and was 9.4 million animals. The beef herd decreased by 4.5% and was 1.3 million animals. The dairy herd did not change substantially and was 1.8 million animals.

• The total number of pigs increased by 0.7% and was 4.7 million animals. The total number of female pigs in the breeding herd decreased by 3.1% and was 327 thousand animals.

• The total number of sheep and lambs decreased by 2.5% and was 31 million animals.

• The total number of poultry decreased by 1.2% and was 176 million birds.

• The total agricultural workforce on commercial holdings decreased by 2.0% and was 453 thousand people.

Farming income

• In 2023/24, the average Farm Business Income (FBI) across all farm types in Great Britain (data for Northern Ireland were not available when Agriculture in the UK was compiled) was £41,500 compared to the UK average of £82,500 in 2022/23. The fall in FBI in 2023/24 followed exceptional highs for some farm types in 2022/23.

• FBI varies greatly with 29% farms in Great Britain failing to make a positive FBI in 2023/24, while 28% of farms had an FBI of over £50,000.

• In 2024/25, average FBI for farms in England is forecast to rise for most farm types (except cereals) reflecting reductions in the cost of inputs such as fertilisers and animal feed. Firm output prices are also predicted to have a positive impact on overall FBI for livestock farms.

Farm accounts

• UK Total Income from Farming (TIFF) in 2024 was £7.7 billion, an increase of £1.6 billion (+26%) from 2023. Following price volatility in 2022 and 2023, this large increase in TIFF was driven by a decrease of £1.2 billion in the value of inputs coupled with a £0.4 billion increase in the value of outputs.

• Total livestock output in 2024 increased by £1.1 billion (+5.6%) from 2023, to £20.1 billion, driven by increases in the values of eggs (+35%), beef (+9.3%) and milk (+5.5%). In these sectors, high prices strengthened producer confidence, resulting in increased annual production volumes across all three commodities. However, it should be noted that an improved methodology for Defra egg statistics in 2024 is estimated to have contributed around a third of the year-on-year increase for eggs.

• In 2024, total crop output decreased by £0.6 billion (-5.3%) from 2023, to £11.7 billion. This decrease was driven by substantial falls in the values of wheat and barley (-27% and -14% respectively) as well as oilseed rape (-31%). The decrease in value of these key crop commodities was driven by poor yields caused by wet weather conditions in key planting periods, and a continued decrease in cereal and oilseed prices after the exceptionally high prices seen in 2022.

• Intermediate consumption decreased by £1.2 billion (-5.5%) from 2023, to £20.9 billion in 2024. This decrease was primarily driven by a 26% decrease in the value of fertilisers following a substantial fall (-20% from 2023) in the price of fertilisers after historically high prices in 2022 and 2023.

• In 2024, agriculture’s contribution to the UK economy (Gross Value Added at basic prices) was £14.5 billion (0.6% of GVA). This constitutes an increase of £1.6 billion (+13%) in GVA compared to 2023.

• Despite recent volatility in TIFF, the longer-term trend is of overall improvement, with TIFF more than tripling in real terms between 2000 and 2024. However, TIFF in 2024 remains 40% lower in real terms than the series high of £12.8 billion seen in 1973.

Productivity

• Total Factor Productivity is estimated to have decreased by 1.4% between 2023 and 2024. This was driven by an increase in the volume of inputs, which was only partially offset by a small increase in the volume of outputs.

• The volume of all outputs increased by 0.2%. There was a mixed picture for crop outputs with substantial decreases in the volumes of most cereals and industrial crops, driven predominantly by reductions in wheat and oilseed rape volumes due to wet weather conditions during planting and pest pressures respectively. This was only partially offset by increases in the volumes of potatoes, fresh vegetables and horticultural products, fruit and ‘other crops’, to give an overall reduction in total crop output volume of 5.1%. There were increases in all major livestock output volumes except for sheep, where disease pressures and wet weather during the spring lambing period led to a fall in sheep meat production. In other livestock sectors high prices drove higher production volumes, resulting in a 3.5% increase in the volume of total livestock output.

• The volume of all inputs increased by 1.6%. There was a mixture of increases and decreases in volume across inputs used. For intermediate consumption, seeds showed the largest increase (+8.0%) due to an increased 2024 spring crop area in compensation for failed plantings in 2023. Animal feed also saw an increase in volume of 5.1% due to an increased demand for feed following increases in production in the beef and dairy sectors.

Prices

• The annual average price index for all agricultural outputs increased by 2.5% from 2023 to 2024.
• The largest upward contribution to the annual inflation rate for agricultural outputs was from potatoes (1.6 percentage points), followed by sheep and lambs (1.2 percentage points) and milk (0.9 percentage points). The main downward contribution came from poultry (-1.3 percentage points).
• The annual average price index for all agricultural inputs decreased by 6.0% from 2023 to 2024.
• The largest downward contribution to the annual inflation rate for agricultural inputs was from compound feedingstuffs (-2.7 percentage points), followed by fertilisers and soil improvers (-1.9 percentage points) and energy and fuel (-1.1 percentage points). The main upward contribution came from materials (0.4 percentage points).

Crops

• Harvested production of wheat decreased by 20% to just over 11.1 million tonnes, due to decreased area and yields. The value of production was 27% lower at £2.2 billion.
• Harvested production of barley increased by 1.8% to 7.1 million tonnes. The value of production was 14% lower at £1.2 billion.
• Oilseed rape production decreased by 32% to around 824 thousand tonnes. This reduction was driven by lower areas and yields. The value of production declined sharply to £335 million, down 31%.
• Sugar beet production increased by 0.9% to 7.8 million tonnes. The value of production fell by 0.7% to £365 million.
• The value of vegetable production rose by 2.1% to just over £2 billion.
• The value of fruit production increased by 4.5% to just under £1.1 billion.

Livestock

• The value of beef and veal increased by 9.3% to £4.1 billion. Home-fed production increased by 3.8% to 937 thousand tonnes. These changes are primarily due to high unit prices at the end of 2024 and high producer confidence.
• The value of pig meat increased by 3.4% to £1.8 billion. Home-fed production increased by 3.9% to 920 thousand tonnes.
• The value of mutton and lamb increased by 13% to £1.8 billion. Home-fed production decreased by 6.5% to 277 thousand tonnes. Constrained supply and robust consumer demand led to sharp price increases.
• The value of poultry meat remains stable at £3.5 billion. Home-fed production increased by 2.9% to 2,031 thousand tonnes.
• The value of milk and milk products increased by 5.5% to £6.3 billion. The volume of milk production increased by 1.1% to 15,269 thousand tonnes. Constrained supplies throughout mid 2024 led to high price increases.
• The value of eggs for human consumption increased by 35% to £1.4 billion. Production increased by 4.9% to 1,148 million dozen. The unit price increased due to a higher proportion of eggs being produced using free-range production methods, which has been one of the primary drivers of increased prices.

Intermediate consumption

• The total cost of intermediate consumption was £20.9 billion, a decrease of £1,214 million (-5.5%) from 2023.

• The value of animal feed decreased by £502 million (-6.6%) from 2023 to £7,133 million.

• The value of energy decreased by £212 million (-11%) from 2023 to £1,746 million.

• The total value of fertilisers was £1,725 million, a decrease of £617 million (-26%) from 2023.

Agricultural support payments

• Total Payments and support to the Agricultural Industry increased by 3.4% to £4,426 million.
• Payments associated with the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and the replacement De-linked Payment Scheme (DPS) decreased by 17% to £1,585 million.
• Payments associated with Agri-Environment Schemes increased by 51% to £1,121 million.

Agri-environment

• Estimated greenhouse gas and air pollution emissions from agriculture have fallen between 1990 and 2023.
• Since the late 1990s, nitrogen and phosphate fertiliser application rates have fallen. Phosphate application was at its lowest rate in 2023, with nitrogen application showing a slight increase from 2022.
• Soil nutrient balances for nitrogen and phosphorus have fluctuated over time, but have shown an overall downward trend and were at their lowest levels in 2022 with marginal increases in 2023.

Organics

• 503 thousand hectares were farmed organically in the UK.

• 59% of UK organic land was in England, 26% in Scotland, 14% in Wales and 1.4% in Northern Ireland.

• Permanent pasture (including rough grazing) accounted for 62% of organic land in the UK, covering 311 thousand hectares.

• 10% of organic land in the UK was used to grow cereals (50 thousand hectares).

• 2.9% of cattle in the UK were reared organically.

• There were a total of 5,133 organic operators in the UK.

Overseas trade

• The value of food, feed and drink exports decreased by £0.6 billion (2.3%) to £24.6 billion.
• The value of food, feed and drink imports increased by £4.0 billion (6.6%) to £64.1 billion.
• The trade gap in food, feed and drink increased by £4.6 billion (13%) to £39.5 billion.
• Principal destinations for exports were Ireland (£4.3 billion), France (£2.9 billion), the United States (£2.7 billion) and the Netherlands (£1.8 billion).
• The main countries of dispatch for imports into the UK were the Netherlands (£7.7 billion), France (£6.1 billion), Ireland (£5.4 billion) and Belgium (£5.0 billion).
• Whisky continued to have the highest export value, totalling £5.5 billion. This was a decrease of 9.0% compared to the previous year.
• Fresh fruit and vegetables together remained the highest value category for imports, totalling £7.8 billion, an increase of 12%.
• Exports of fresh vegetables rose by 13% to £95 million, and exports of fresh fruit also rose by 2.7% to £73 million.

The food chain

• In 2023, the agri-food sector (excluding fishing) in the United Kingdom accounted for a total estimated Gross Value Added (GVA) of £153.2bn or 6.2% of national GVA, an increase of 4.8% since 2022. The GVA from agriculture decreased by 4.5% between 2022 and 2023 but all other sectors saw an increase.

• Employment in the agri-food sector in Great Britain fell by 0.9% to 4.2 million over the 12-month period to the fourth quarter of 2024. The largest percent change was seen in retailing which fell by 2.4% (27,000 employees).

• Total factor productivity of the food chain showed no significant change compared to 2022, while the productivity of the wider economy also showed no significant change. In the 10 years prior to 2023, the average annual growth rate of the food chain was 0.6%, while the wider economy’s average annual growth rate was 0.4%. In 2023, total factor productivity of food wholesaling increased by 0.4%, but manufacturing, retail and non-residential catering (NRC) decreased by 0.2%, 0.2% and 1.1% respectively.

• Consumer expenditure on food and alcoholic drinks (at constant prices) decreased by 1.2% from £276.5bn in 2023 to £273.1bn in 2024 but was 13% higher than in 2014. Expenditure on food and drink eaten out decreased by 2.1% from £126.7bn in 2023 to £124.0bn in 2024 and expenditure on household food decreased by 0.7% from £125.4bn to £124.5bn, whilst expenditure on alcoholic drinks (off-licence only) increased by 1.0% from £24.4bn to £24.7bn.