November 27, 2017

EU agricultural output down 2.8% in 2016

The total value of agricultural output in the EU decreased 2.8% to 405 billion euros (US$483.28 billion) at basic prices in 2016 compared with 2015, mainly due falls in both animal and crop outputs, latest data released by Eurostat showed. Basic prices refer to producer prices from which taxes on products have been subtracted and subsidies on products have been added.

The value of animal output declined 3.3% due to a 4.9% decrease in prices. The price decline, however, was partly compensated by a 1.7% increase in volume.

According to Eurotat, the overall decrease in the value of animal output was mainly due to falls by 5.2% for milk and by 3.6% for cattle.

The value of crop output in the EU also decreased, by 2.5%, with prices down 1.8% and volume down 0.7%. Cereals, in particular, decreased 13.5%.

EU agricultural input costs (intermediate consumption) decreased 3.4% year-on-year, This was partly due to factors including a decline of 2.7% for animal feeding stuffs.

The EU comprises Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden and the UK. —Rick Alberto