Provisional accounts for agriculture for 2015 – Production stability, drop in intermediate consumption

In 2015 agricultural production, including subsidies, increased in value by 0.5% compared with 2014. Crop production prices increased by 7% while animal production fell back 6%. Notably, the price of fruit and vegetables and of potatoes recovered as harvests were down, while the prices of milk, calves and pigs decreased substantially. At the same time, farmers’ expenses were reduced, mainly due to the fall in energy prices. Value added for the agriculture sector is therefore likely to increase considerably. However, agricultural employment will probably continue to decline. According to estimates from the agricultural provisional account, factor income from the agricultural sector per worker looks set to increase by 8.8% in real terms in 2015, consolidating the 2014 rise.