Last year, 11 of the 27 EU Member States recorded a fall in the value of agricultural production, with the most significant declines in Romania (minus 11.3%), Malta and Bulgaria (both minus 4.5%), Finland (minus 3.9%), Hungary and the Netherlands (both minus 3.1%), according to data published on Monday by the European Statistical Office (Eurostat) and quoted by Agerpres.
The most significant increase, in relative terms, was recorded in Lithuania (8.6%), Ireland (4.6%), Slovakia (3.8%), Latvia (3.1%) and Cyprus (2.8%).
In 2020, the value of agricultural production in the EU stood at €414.1 billion, down 1.1% on 2019.
The largest agricultural producers in the EU were last year: France (with an agricultural production value of €76.3 billion, or 18.4% of the EU total), Germany (€57.6 billion, or 13.9%), Italy (€56.9 billion, or 13.7%), Spain (€52.3 billion, or 12.6%), the Netherlands (€28.2 billion, or 6.8%) and Poland (€26.4 billion, or 6.4%).
Among the EU’s largest agricultural producers, the value of agricultural output fell by 2.3% in Italy, 1.9% in France and 1.6% in Germany, but rose by 1.1% in Spain.
In 2020, the value of the EU bloc’s crop production and the value of the EU’s livestock production fell by 1% and 1.1% respectively.
In 2019, Romania was the seventh largest agricultural producer in the EU bloc, with an agricultural production value of €19 billion, or 5% of the EU total