EU27 real agricultural income per worker has decreased by 12.2% in 2009, following a decrease by 2.5% in 2008, according to first estimates issued by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities. This decline results from a reduction in real agricultural income (-14.2%), together with a fall in agricultural labour input (-2.2%). These estimates for the EU27 are based on data supplied by the national authorities in the Member States.

The decrease in EU27 real agricultural income in 2009 is mainly the result of a sharp fall in the value of agricultural output at producer prices in real terms (-10.9%), while input costs in real terms decreased (-9.2%). The small fall in the real value of subsidies net of taxes (-0.8%) and the slight decrease in depreciation in real terms (-0.2%) have a marginal impact.

Real agricultural income per worker in 2009 is estimated to have fallen in 22 Member States and to have risen in five. The largest falls are expected in Hungary (-35.6%), Italy (-25.3%), Luxembourg (-25.1%), the Czech Republic (-24.1%), Ireland (-22.3%), Germany (-21.0%), Austria (-20.4%) and France (-19.8%), and the highest rises in the United Kingdom (+14.3%), Malta (+9.1%) and Finland (+2.6%).

In 2009, the value of EU27 agricultural output at producer prices is estimated to have decreased by 10.9%, mainly due to a decrease in the value of both crop production (-13.2%) and animal production (-9.7%) in real terms.

In crop production, the decrease in value is almost entirely due to a decline in prices (-12.4%), while the volume is expected to fall only slightly (-0.8%). Prices are falling for all groups of crops, except plants and flowers (+0.3%), most sharply for cereals (-27.5%), industrial crops (-15.6%), olive oil (-14.7%) and fruits (-12.3%). A rise in volume is seen for industrial crops (+8.6%), while olive oil (-8.9%) and cereals (-4.9%) are declining.

The decrease in the value of animal production in 2009 is the result of a clear fall in producer prices (-8.7%) and a slight decline in volume (-1.1%). Prices are falling for the three largest animal products: milk (-20.3%), pigs (-4.2%) and cattle (-1.8%). The volume remains the same for milk production, is nearly stable for pigs (-0.3%) and decreases for cattle (-2.9%).

EU27 agricultural input costs (intermediate consumption) are expected to fall by 9.2% in real terms, due to decreases in both volume (-3.1%) and prices (-6.3%). Lower input volumes are estimated for almost all categories of input, particularly for fertilizers (-14.0%). The fall in input prices is driven by sharp falls in feeding stuff (-14.1%) and energy (-12.5%).

Between 2005 and 2009, EU27 real income per worker is estimated to have decreased by 1.7%. On average, agricultural labour input in the EU27 has fallen by 11.5% since 2005.