Luxembourg, 04/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - According to Eurostat estimates, real agricultural income has risen by 2.7% in the EU this year. In the Euro-zone the rise was 2.4%.
The increase in the level of EU15 real agricultural income per worker is due to a rise in real agricultural income (+1.1%) on the one hand, and to the continued reduction in the volume of agricultural labour input (-1.6%), on the other. But data released by +Eurostat reveals a large disparity between Member States: the real agricultural income per worker was greater than 2000 levels in all Member States except Italy (-0.8%) and Luxembourg (-2.4%). The strongest growth rates observed were in Denmark (+12.5%), Portugal (+9.5%), Austria (+8.5%), Ireland (+7.3%, Belgium (+6.2%) and Germany (+5.7%).
The Statistical Office of the European Community explained that the trend for a rise in agricultural income in the EU was due to a combination of different factors: slightly higher overall output of agriculture in real value terms (+0.2%), slightly higher input costs (+0.2% in real values), due to higher prices (+1.2%) and despite lower volumes (-1.0%), strong increase of the value of the non product-specific subsidies (+9.7% in real terms), decline of non product-specific taxes (-0.8% in real terms) and slightly higher depreciation (+0.2% in real terms), continuous decline of the volume of labour input (-1.6%).
The real value of the overall agricultural output slightly increases in 2001 (+0.2%). This is the result of contrasting developments in animal and crop production. Increases in the real output values of animals (+2.4%) and animal products (+3.7%) outweigh the decline in the value of crop output (-1.8% in real terms). This latter decline is mainly due to lower output volumes (-7.5%) in cereal production and to lower volumes (-5.9%) and real producer prices (-3.5%) in wine production. The increase in the average output value of animals is the result of a further remarkable rise in the real producer prices for pigs (+16.4% in real terms), despite the notable fall in the output values of cattle and sheep and goats. Higher real producer prices for milk (+4.0%) are the main factor behind the rise in the output value of animal products. Cattle production is once more strongly affected by the consequences of the BSE crisis in most of the Member States, but also, in 2001, by the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), in the United Kingdom mainly. In the EU15, real cattle prices go down in 2001 by 13.2% and output volume by 1.5%, while output volume of sheep and goats declines by 5.2%. Input costs are slightly higher than in 2000 (+0.2% in real value terms). Average real prices for intermediate inputs are 1.2% higher than in 2000, mainly as a result of higher prices for animal feedingstuffs and fertilisers (+2.2% and +10.3% respectively, in real terms).