Figures released by Eurostat today show that the number of agricultural holdings in the EU 27 fell by 20 per cent over the last seven years. In 2010, there were just over 12 million agricultural holdings and an utilised agricultural area (UAA) of 170 million hectares in the EU27. image expired

The 2010 figure shows that, since 2003, the number of holdings decreased by 20 per cent, whilst the utilised agricultural area increased by 2 per cent, revealing a tendency towards larger holdings across the bloc. The average size of a holding was 14 hectares in the EU27 in 2010, compared with 12 ha per holding in 2003.

This information analysed by Eurostat came from the Agricultural Census 2010, which is conducted every ten years. The census gathers data on the structure of agricultural activities, covering mainly the number and size of farms, the type of crops grown, the number and types of livestock, and the labour force involved.

Seven Member States account for more than 80% of agricultural holdings in the EU

The census revealed that, 80 per cent of the holdings in the EU 27 are concentrated in just seven states: Romania (3.9 million holdings or 32 per cent of the EU total) had the largest number in 2010, followed by Italy (1.6 million, 13.5 per cent), Poland (1.5 million, 12.5 per cent), Spain (1.0 million, 8.2 per cent), Greece (0.7 million, 5.9 per cent), Hungary (0.6 million, 4.8 per cent) and France (0.5 million, 4.3 per cent).

Despite a renewed interest in small-scale and traditional agriculture across many Eu states, only Malta and Sweden saw increases in the number of holdings, with the other 25 states showing decreasing numbers and increasing sizes between 2003 and 2010. The largest decreases were observed in Estonia and Bulgaria, which lost nearly half their holdings at -46.6 per cent and -44.2 per cent respectively.

Seven Member States account for almost 75% of utilised agricultural area in the EU27

Furthermore, just seven  states were found to account for three quarters of the agricultural land in the EU: France (27.1 million ha or 15.9 per cent of the total UAA) had the largest area, followed by Spain (23.8 million, 14.0 per cent), Germany (16.7 million ha, 9.8 per cent), the United Kingdom (15.9 million ha, 9.4 per cent), Poland (14.4 million ha, 8.5 per cent), Romania (13.3 million ha, 7.8 per cent) and Italy (12.9 million ha, 7.6 per cent).

In many of the member states the area used for agriculture decreased despite the continued insistence from policy makers across the block that the EU needs to sustainably increase production in the face of climate change and a growing world population. Research from Friends of the Earth released yesterday showed the EU is the least self-sufficient global region in terms of land use for a range of agricultural and forestry products including wood, food and clothing.

The utilised agricultural area decreased in eighteen Member States between 2003 and 2010, but was shown to have increased in nine. Cyprus (-24.3 per cent) recorded the largest drop-off, while Bulgaria’s agricultural land increased by almost a quarter; Latvia (+19.9 per cent) and Estonia (+18.0 per cent) also reported notable increases.

The United Kingdom was found to have the second largest average farm size at 79 ha, behind the Czech Republic (152 hectares per holding). For this reason some in the UK industry have battled against proposals by the European Commission to introduce caps on single payments for the largest farms as part of its plans for Common Agricultural Policy reform, despite the fact that the more egalitarian measures have been met with widespread support elsewhere.