Agriculture in 2010 in France and Europe - Income up sharply after a two-year decline

Price increases, particularly for cereals, drove up nominal agricultural production in France as in the European Union 27 in 2010. This trend, combined with softer intermediate-consumption prices, caused agricultural income to surge after a two-year contraction. In consequence, according to the latest provisional data, real net value added at factor cost (or net agricultural income) per economically active person gained 37.2% in France after two years of steep decline. Since 2006, the aggregate has registered strong fluctuations. In the past ten years, its total growth has stayed below the EU average and notably below that of Germany. The agricultural trade surplus recovered after an unusually sharp fall in 2009, unprecedented since 2001.