Brussels, 19/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - EU27 real agricultural income per worker has decreased by 4.3% in 2008, after increasing by 12.2% in 2007, according to first estimates issued by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. This decline results from a reduction in real agricultural income (6.3%), together with a fall in agricultural labour input (2.1%).
The decrease in EU27 real agricultural income in 2008 is itself the result of: - an increase in output of agriculture at producer prices in real terms (4.3%); - a steep rise in input costs in real terms (10.8%); - a decrease in the real value of subsidies net of taxes (1.5%); - a rise in depreciation in real terms (2.4%).
Eurostat says that the large fluctuations in prices during 2008 may have an effect on the accuracy of the estimates. Real agricultural income per worker rose in Bulgaria (24.5%), Romania (21.4%), Hungary (14.6%), United Kingdom (7.2%), Portugal (4.8%), Slovakia (3.5%) and Italy (2.1%); and fell in Belgium (25.6%), Estonia (22.1%), Latvia (17.5%), Poland (15.9%) and the Netherlands (14.1%). Agricultural income also fell in France (9.2%), Spain (3.4%) and Germany (5.7%).
In 2008, the value of agricultural output at producer prices is estimated to have grown by 4.3%, mainly due to an increase in the value of both crop production (3.0%) and animal production (6.3%) in real terms.
Between 2000 and 2008, EU27 real income per worker is estimated to have increased by 17.2%. In the EU15, the rise was 3.8%, while in the 12 new member states it was 73.7%. On average, agricultural labour input in the EU27 has fallen by 24.5% since 2000, and by 29.6% in the new member states. (L.C./transl.rt)