Jobs and growth in rural areas - Infopage

GDP, incomes, employment in agriculture and poverty rates in rural areas.

Background information

The vitality and potential of many rural areas remain closely linked to the presence of a viable and dynamic farming and forestry sector, which employs and provides income for an important number of rural inhabitants and at the same time has positive spill-over effects on many other rural activities (e.g. manufacturing, local industries, services, tourism).

The level of employment in agriculture, food industry and forestry varies substantially by Member State as illustrated in this dashboard. But the reduction of poverty in rural areas is a common feature and the CAP played an important role in this. The CAP targets farmers (and thus rural areas) but also other actors of the rural community in the rural development programmes.

To know more on Socio-Economic challenges facing agriculture and rural areas, click here.

In case data are missing for some Member States, EU totals are calculated with the available information.

Figure: Gross value added in primary sector (EUR million)

Indicator(s) used in the graph:

Type
Name
Parameter
Code
Unit
Source
Context
C.10 Structure of the economy
total
CTX_SOC_10_1
EUR million
EUROSTAT
Context
C.10 Structure of the economy
primary sector
CTX_SOC_10_2a
% of total
EUROSTAT

Mapping with legend(s) in the graph:

Legend
Code/Formula
Gross value added in primary sector in 2018
CTX_SOC_10_2a * (CTX_SOC_10_1 / 100)

Figure: Share of primary sector employment in rural areas

Indicator(s) used in the graph:

Type
Name
Parameter
Code
Unit
Source
Context
C.11 Structure of the employment
primary sector
CTX_SOC_11_4a
% of total
EUROSTAT

Notes:

  • There are no rural areas defined in MT, LU, CY and there is no distinction between rural and intermediate areas in BE 2000-2003, CZ 2000, PL 1995-2009.
  • The primary sector covers agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Figure: Number of holdings

Indicator(s) used in the graph:

Type
Name
Parameter
Code
Unit
Source
Context
C.17 Agricultural holdings (farms)
total
CTX_SEC_17_1
farms
Eurostat, Farm Structure Survey (ef_kvaareg)

Figure: Jobs in agriculture

Indicator(s) used in the graph:

Type
Name
Parameter
Code
Unit
Source
Context
C.22 Farm labour force
total (in persons)
CTX_SEC_22_1a
persons
Eurostat, Farm Structure Survey (ef_olfreg)
Context
C.22 Farm labour force
total (in AWU)
CTX_SEC_22_1b
AWU
Eurostat, Farm Structure Survey (ef_olfreg)

Mapping with legend(s) in the graph:

Legend
Code/Formula
Persons
CTX_SEC_22_1a
FTE
CTX_SEC_22_1b

Notes:

  • The number of persons employed can be expressed in Annual Working Units (AWU) which is equivalent to Full Time Equivalent (FTE). In agriculture, part time and seasonal work, are very common, thus the large difference between the number of persons employed in agriculture and the number of FTE.
  • In this case, the total farm labour force has been computed aggregating the regular labour force employed in the farm and the labour force employed on a non-regular basis.
  • There are several sources for labour force, the most accurate for agriculture is the Farm Structure Survey. To know more on this topic click here.

Map: GDP per capita in rural areas

Unit: EUR per capita

Indicator(s) used in the graph:

Type
Name
Parameter
Code
Unit
Source
Context
C.08 GDP per capita
rural regions
CTX_SOC_08_4
EUR PPS per capita
EUROSTAT

Notes:

  • There are no rural areas defined in MT, LU, CY

Graph: Gross value added (million EUR) and employment rate in rural areas (%)

Employment rate in rural areas, age group 15-64 (million EUR and %)

Indicator(s) used in the graph:

Type
Name
Parameter
Code
Unit
Source
Context
C.05 Employment rate
rural areas
CTX_SOC_05_1d
%
EUROSTAT
Context
C.10 Structure of the economy
total
CTX_SOC_10_1
EUR million
EUROSTAT
Context
C.10 Structure of the economy
primary sector
CTX_SOC_10_2a
% of total
EUROSTAT
Context
C.10 Structure of the economy
rural regions
CTX_SOC_10_3a
% of total
EUROSTAT

Mapping with legend(s) in the graph:

Legend
Code/Formula
GVA - rural areas
CTX_SOC_10_3a * (CTX_SOC_10_1 / 100)
GVA - agriculture
CTX_SOC_10_2a * (CTX_SOC_10_1 / 100)
Employment rate
CTX_SOC_05_1d

Notes:

  • There are no rural areas defined in MT, LU, CY and there is no distinction between rural and intermediate areas in BE 2000-2003, CZ 2000, PL 1995-2009.
  • The primary sector covers agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Graph: Poverty rate in rural areas (%)

Indicator(s) used in the graph:

Type
Name
Parameter
Code
Unit
Source
Context
C.09 Poverty rate
total
CTX_SOC_09_1
% of total population
Eurostat
Context
C.09 Poverty rate
rural areas
CTX_SOC_09_2
% of total population
Eurostat

Mapping with legend(s) in the graph:

Legend
Code/Formula
Whole territory
CTX_SOC_09_1
Rural areas
CTX_SOC_09_2

Graph: Share of the agri-food sector in total employment (%)

Indicator(s) used in the graph:

Type
Name
Parameter
Code
Unit
Source
Context
C.13 Employment by economic activity
share
CTX_SEC_13_2b
% of total employment
Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (lfsa_egan22d)
Context
C.13 Employment by economic activity
share
CTX_SEC_13_3b
% of total employment
Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (lfsa_egan22d)
Context
C.13 Employment by economic activity
share
CTX_SEC_13_4b
% of total employment
Eurostat, Labour Force Survey (lfsa_egan22d)

Mapping with legend(s) in the graph:

Legend
Code/Formula
Agriculture
CTX_SEC_13_2b
Forestry
CTX_SEC_13_3b
Food industry
CTX_SEC_13_4b

Notes:

  • To know more on the measurement of employment in agriculture click here.

Graph: Farmers' income compared to wage in the rest of the economy

EUR/family work unit, real terms

Indicator(s) used in the graph:

Type
Name
Parameter
Code
Unit
Source
Context
C.26 Agricultural entrepreneurial income
Agricultural entrepreneurial income (net agricultural entrepreneurial income in real terms) per unpaid (non-salaried) annual work unit
CTX_SEC_26_1
EUR (in real terms)/FWU
Eurostat, Economic Accounts for Agriculture (aact_eaa04, aact_ali01)
Context
C.26 Agricultural entrepreneurial income
share
CTX_SEC_26_2
%
Eurostat, Economic Accounts for Agriculture (aact_eaa01, aact_ali01) and National Accounts (nama_nace10_c, nama_nace10_e)

Mapping with legend(s) in the graph:

Legend
Code/Formula
Agricultural entrepreneurial income per family work unit
CTX_SEC_26_1
Share of average wage in whole economy
CTX_SEC_26_2

Notes:

  • Agricultural entrepreneurial income measures the income derived from agricultural activities that can be used for the remuneration of own production factors, i.e. non-salaried (= family) labour, land belonging to the agricultural holding and own capital.
  • The agricultural income aggregates do not represent the disposable income of farm households, because the latter, in addition to their purely agricultural incomes, may also have income from other sources (non-agricultural activities, remuneration, social benefits, income from property). Comparing agricultural income to average wages in the economy nonetheless provides an estimate for the opportunity cost of agricultural family labour, i.e., the average income opportunities that a person would have outside of agriculture.
  • The Agricultural entrepreneurial income can be negative (in SK e.g.). In this case the share is not calculated.