Agriculture in France and Europe in 2009: falling prices and income

In France as in the European Union 27, lower prices caused nominal agricultural production to fall in 2009. Owing to the slower decrease in intermediate consumption, agricultural income continued to weaken. In France, for example, the latest provisional data showed an 18.5% drop in real net agricultural income per economically active person, after an already sharp contraction in 2008. Real net income from agricultural enterprises per self-employed worker sank 34%. The agricultural trade surplus narrowed after three consecutive annual increases