1.1. Contact organisation
[ES6] Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) (Spain)
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Subdirección General de Análisis, Coordinación y Estadística
1.3. Contact name
Restricted from publication
1.4. Contact person function
Restricted from publication
1.5. Contact mail address
Paseo de Infanta Isabel nº1, Madrid (28014)
1.6. Contact email address
Restricted from publication
1.7. Contact phone number
Restricted from publication
1.8. Contact fax number
Restricted from publication
2.1. Metadata last certified
15 January 2026
2.2. Metadata last posted
3 August 2026
2.3. Metadata last update
3 August 2026
3.1. Data description
The Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA) provide an overview of the agricultural activities in a systematic and comparable way to serve as basis for analyses, forecasts and political measures. The methodology is laid down in Annex I of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The EAA methodological manual provides further details and clarifications (LINK).
3.2. Classification system
The EAA are a satellite account of the European System of Accounts (ESA), therefore EAA constitute an integral part of the ESA. As such, they are compiled based on NACE Rev. 2, the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community. The list of activities, which defines the agricultural industry corresponds, in principle, to Division 01 of that classification: Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities. However, some differences exist that are detailed in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council.
3.3. Coverage - sector
The sector covers all units involved in agricultural production, even if some of those units have other more important economic activities even if the purpose of these activities is not commercial. However, kitchen gardens (producing for own-consumption only) are not included.
The list of agricultural activities covered by EAA corresponds to the seven groups of Division 01 of NACE Rev 2 activities (01.1 to 01.7), with the following caveats/differences:
- inclusion of the production of wine and olive oil (exclusively using grapes and olives grown by the same holding),
- exclusion of certain activities which, in NACE Rev. 2, are considered as agricultural services (e.g. the operation of irrigation systems - only agricultural contract work is taken into account here).
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
The EAA are a satellite account of the ESA providing complementary information and concepts adapted to the particular nature of the agricultural industry.
The EAA are shown as a sequence of inter-related accounts. As the EAA are based on the industry concept, the sequence of accounts is limited to the first accounts of the current accounts:
- the production account (its balancing item: value added)
- the generation-of-income account (its balancing item: operating surplus).
Nevertheless EAA contains other accounts (of the ESA) at least partly:
- the entrepreneurial income account (one of the current accounts) and
- the capital account (one of the accumulation accounts).
The EAA provide a wide range of indicators on the economic activities of the agricultural sector: these include output, intermediate consumption, gross and net value added, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), both at current prices and at reference year prices, as well as compensation of employees, other taxes and subsidies on production, net operating surplus or net mixed income, property income and net entrepreneurial income at current prices. (see for more details points 1.40-1.48 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.)
Three income indicators are defined in the EAA:
- Index of the real income of factors in agriculture per annual work unit (indicator A).
- Index of real net agricultural entrepreneurial income per unpaid annual work unit (indicator B).
- Net entrepreneurial income of agriculture (indicator C).
See for more details chapter 5 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
3.4.1. Components of the Production account : Output
Agricultural output is the total of the agricultural products and the goods and services produced in inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities during the accounting period. It is recorded as a resource in the production account and it is valued and recorded at the time it is generated, i.e. when produced and not when paid by the purchaser.
In the compilation of the EAA, output is progressively broken down in quantity terms (see point 2.037 of Regulation (EC) 138/2004).
Output is valued at the basic price. The basic price is the price receivable by the producers from the purchaser for a unit of a good or service produced, minus any tax (i.e. taxes on products) payable on that unit plus any subsidy (i.e. subsidies on products) receivable on that unit. The basic price excludes any transport charges invoiced separately by the producer. It also excludes holding gains and losses on financial and non-financial assets.
The valuation of output at the basic price makes it necessary to distinguish between taxes (other than VAT) on products and subsidies on products, on the one hand, and other taxes and subsidies on production, on the other.
The components of output in the production account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004. The other categories are wider, defined by the countries according to their special characteristics. The table below covers the list of products included under ‘other’ categories.
| List of 'Other products' | Items |
|---|---|
| Other cereals except wheat and spelt, rye and meslin, barley, oats and summer cereals mixture, grain maize, rice | Sorghum, Millet (Panicum Miliaceu), Paspalum distichum, Canary grass (Phalaris canariensis), Triticale, Other cereals, Other cereal mixtures |
| Other oleaginous products except Rape and turnip rape seed, Sunflower, Soya | Oil squash, Safflower, Oil hemp, Oil peanuts, Linseed , |
| Other industrial crops: others than Oil seeds and oleaginous fruits (including seeds), Protein crops (including seeds), Raw tobacco, Sugarbeet, Fibre plants, Hops | Paprica pepper, Anise, Saffron crocus, Peppermint, Cumin, Liquorice, Chicory, Lavandula, Sugarcane, Camelina, Poppy, Parsley; Culinary and aromatic plants for direct sale, Other aromatic and medicinal plants, Energy crops, Dried beans, Lentils, Chickpeas, Vetch seeds, Lathyrus sativus, Vicia articulata, Vicia ervilia, Other legumes. |
| Other forage plants except Fodder maize, Fodder root crops (including forage beet) | Winter cereals for fodder, Sorghum, Rye-grass, Other grasses, Lucerne, Vetch, Clover grass, Sainfoin, Sulla (Hedysarium cronarium), Other fodder legumes, Polyphite grasslands, Fodder cabbage, Fodder pumpkin, Other forage crops, Natural meadows, Cereal straw, Legume straw. |
| Other fresh vegetables except Cauliflower, Tomatoes | Other fresh vegetables: Cabbage, Brassica oleracea, Asparagus, Lettuce, Escarole, Spinach, Chard, Green chicory, Endivie, Starflower (Borag officinalis), Watermelon, Melon, Pumpkin, Courgette, Cucumber, Eggplant, Pepper, Hot Pepper, Artichoke, Garlic, Onion, Chives, Leek, Beat, Carrot, Redish, Turnip, Green beans (without pods), Green peas, Champignon, Other cultivated mushrooms, Other fresh vegetables. |
| Other fresh fruit, except apples, pears, peaches | Apples for cider, Apples for other industries, Pears for industry, Apricots, Cherries and sour cherries, Plums, Walnuts, Hazel nuts, Pistachios, Almonds, Chestnuts, Green figs, Quince, Medlar, Acerola, Serval, Strawberry, Jujube, Persimmon, Mulberry, Carob, Prickly pear, Pomegranate, Date, Kiwi, gooseberry, raspberry, blueberry, other berries, other nuts, other fleshy fruits, other pome fruits, other stone fruits. |
| Fiber plants | Cotton, Hemp for fibre, Fibre flax |
| Other crop products: Others: not elsewhere classified | Sweet potato, tiger nut, cultivated truffle, caper, coffee, wine production by-products, olive oil production by-products. |
| Other animals Other than cattle, pigs, equines, sheep and goats, poultry | Rabbits |
| Other animal products: others than milk, eggs, raw wool, silkworm cocoons | Homey, beeswax |
| Processing of agricultural products: | Items |
| Other animal products other than milk | Not applicable |
| Other inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities (goods and services) Other than Processing of agricultural products | Not applicable |
3.4.2. Components of the Production account : Intermediate consumption
Intermediate consumption represents the value of all goods and services used as inputs in the production process, excluding fixed assets, the consumption of which is recorded as fixed capital consumption.
The inputs used for intermediate consumption should be valued at the purchaser prices for similar goods and services applicable at the time of their insertion in the production process. The purchaser price includes taxes less subsidies on products (but excludes deductible taxes like VAT on the products). It also includes any transport charges paid separately by the purchaser to take delivery at the required time and place.
The components of intermediate consumption in the production account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004. The other categories are wider, defined by the countries according to their special characteristics. The table below only covers the list of products included under ‘other’ categories.
| List of 'Other products' | Items |
|---|---|
| Energy; lubricants other than electricity, gas, other fuels and propellants | Lubricants |
| Other goods and services other than listed under 2.108 in the Reg. | Water, agrarian insurance service, other goods and services: other |
3.4.3. Components of the Generation of income account
In the generation of income account, the distributive transactions relate to other taxes on production, other subsidies on production and the compensation of employees.
The components of the generation of income account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
3.4.4. Components of the Entrepreneurial income account
The entrepreneurial income account records certain types of property income (mainly land rents, interest and property income attributed to insurance policy holders).
The components of the entrepreneurial income account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
3.4.5. Elements of the Capital account
In addition to gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), the capital account records distributive transactions corresponding to aid for investment and other capital transfers.
The elements of the capital account are detailed in ANNEX II of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical unit is the local kind of activity unit.
In order to provide more detailed information and to analyse flows generated by the production process and the use of goods and services, it is necessary to select units which emphasise relationships of a technical-economic kind. This means that, institutional units are broken-down into smaller and more homogeneous units with regard to the kind of production (local kind-of-activity units/local KAUs) (ESA 2010, 2.147).
The local KAU is defined as the part of a KAU which corresponds to a local unit. The institutional unit's information system is capable of indicating or calculating for each local KAU at least the value of output, intermediate consumption, compensation of employees, the operating surplus and employment and gross fixed capital formation (ESA 2010, 2.148).
The agricultural holding is the local KAU most appropriate to the agricultural industry. However, the variety of agricultural activities that can be performed on agricultural holdings makes them a special type of local KAU. The strict application of the ESA rule to units and their group should in fact result in a division of the agricultural holding into several separate local KAUs in cases where several activities of the NACE Rev. 2 four-digit class are performed on the same holding and the information required according to the explanations above is available. The adoption of the agricultural holding as the local KAU of the agricultural industry in the national accounts (NA) and EAA is based on a statistical approach.
The speciality and the aim of EAA is to cover all agricultural activity carried out by an agricultural holding or any other local KAU not having agriculture as its main activity.
The use of the local KAU as the basic unit for the agricultural industry entails recording non-agricultural secondary activities where they cannot be distinguished from the main agricultural activity (inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities of local agricultural KAUs). The selection criterion for inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities is rather the type of activity than the nature of the product. For example, agro-tourism services provided by a farm are only included if they cannot be separated from its agricultural activities.
3.6. Statistical population
The agricultural industry includes all local KAUs at local level which perform the economic activities, as principal or secondary activity corresponds to Division 01 in NACE Rev. 2 (cf. 1.60 to 1.66 of EAA Reg.)
3.7. Reference area
The entire territory of the country.
3.8. Coverage - Time
EAA time series are available from 1990 onwards
3.9. Base period
Accounts for year n are calculated of the base period is year n-1. Data are derived by chain linking at prices of year 2015 (and at any other reference year prices).
EAA data at current prices and at prices for the preceding year are given in millions of units of national currency.
Agricultural labour input data are given in thousand annual work units (AWU).
2023 calendar year.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
EU legislation:
EAA are legally covered by Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 December 2003 on the economic accounts for agriculture in the Community as amended. Transmission of data for the regional EAA (REAA) at NUTS 2 level became obligatory in September 2023. Before September 2023, Eurostat collected REAA data on a voluntary basis.
National legislation:
The collection, processing and dissemination of data from statistical operations for state purposes is governed by the provisions of Law 12/1989, of May 9, on the Public Statistical Function (LFEP) and the Fourth Additional Provision of the Law 4/1990, of June 29. In the LFEP it is established that the National Statistical Plan (PEN) is the main ordering instrument of the statistical activity of the General State Administration and contains the statistics to be prepared in the four-year period by the services of the State Administration or any other entities dependent on it, and those that must be carried out in whole or in part with the participation of the Autonomous Communities and Local Corporations by virtue of cooperation agreements with the State statistical services or, where appropriate, in execution of the provisions of the laws.
EAA statistic is included in the National Statistical Plan 2021‐2024, approved by Royal Decree 1110/2020, of December 15 (operation nº8459) and assigned to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA).
Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and the Council sets up the economic accounts for agriculture in the Union by providing for the methodology and the time-limits for the transmission of the agricultural accounts. The EAA are satellite accounts of national accounts, as provided for by ESA 2010, with the purpose of obtaining results that are harmonised and comparable between the Member States in order to draw up the accounts for the purposes of the Union. The regulation 138/2024 was amended by Regulation 2022/580 setting up the quality assessment according to the Regulation (EC) 223/2009 and introduced the Regional economic accounts for a agriculture in the transmission programme of data.
Law 12/1989, of May 9, on the Public Statistical Function (LFEP)
Annexes:
Law 12/1989, of May 9, on the Public Statistical Function (LFEP)
National Statistical Plan 2021‐2024
6.1.1. Responsible institution for compilation of EAA
[ES6] Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) (Spain)
6.1.2. Responsible institution for compilation of Agricultural Income Index
[ES6] Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) (Spain)
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Data exchanges between Spanish Statistical Office and the other statistical services of the State (ministerial departments, autonomous bodies and public entities of the State Administration), as well as between these and the statistical services of the Autonomous Communities for the development of the statistics entrusted to them, are regulated in the Law 12/1989, of May 9, on the Public Statistical Function (LFEP). The LFEP also establishes the mechanisms for statistical coordination between administrations, as well as the conclusion of cooperation agreements when deemed appropriate.
Regulation (EC) No 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 December 2003 on the economic accounts for agriculture in the Community also establishes the rules for sending the EAA data to the European Unión.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society. The European Statistics Code of Practice provides conditions that have to be respected by statistical offices in regard to statistical confidentiality (Principle 5).
The Spanish Law 12/1989on the Public Statistical Function (LFEP). sets ups that personal data obtained by statistical services either directly from respondents or through administrative sources shall be protected and covered by statistical confidentiality. Statistical confidentiality requires statistical services not to disclose personal data under any circumstances, regardless of its origin. The use of personal data obtained directly from respondents by statistical services for purposes other than statistics is prohibited. The Farm Statistics is a statistical operation included in the National Statistical Plan, so it is subject to the LFEP, so its data are protected by the statistical secrecy in all phases of its elaboration.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not applicable.
7.2.1. Confidentiality rules applied to microdata
Not applicable.
7.2.2. Comments on the amount of data affected by embargo
Not applicable.
8.1. Release calendar
There is calendar of EAA publications available to the public on the MAPA website.
8.2. Release calendar access
Economic Accounts for Agriculture
8.3. Release policy - user access
The EAA news release are announced in the new release page of MAPA web site the same day of updating.
Yearly
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
10.2. Dissemination format - Publications
Renta Agraria 2024 (2ª estimación)
- Publisher: Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación/Subsecretaría de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación/Centro de Publicaciones
- Link: AGRICULTURAL INCOME 2024 (2nd ESTIMATE)
Renta Agraria 2025 (1ª estimación)
- Publisher: Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación/Subsecretaría de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación/Centro de Publicaciones
- Link: AGRICULTURAL INCOME 2025 (1st ESTIMATE)
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
Domain name: www.mapa.gob.es
Link: Economic Accounts for Agriculture
Number of consultations over the last year (dec/2024-nov/2025): 3697
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Not applicable.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Monthly statistical bulletin: December 2024 (published in January 2025) (see chapter 2.4).
Monthly statistical bulletin (December 2024)
Monthly statistical bulletin (April 2025) (see chapter 2.4).
Monthly statistical bulletin (April 2025)
Statistical Yearbook (chapter 10.2)
Statistical Yearbook (chapter 10.2)
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
Methodology on Economic Accounts for Agriculture :
Publisher Subsecretaría del MAPA
ECONOMIC ACCOUNTS FOR AGRICULTURE (METHODOLOGY)
Standardised methodological report on the Economic Accounts for Agriculture (IME)
Publisher Subsecretaría del MAPA
Standardised methodological report on the Economic Accounts for Agriculture
Standardised methodological report on the Economic Accounts for Agriculture Regional (IME)
Publisher Subsecretaría del MAPA
Standardised methodological report on the Economic Accounts for Agriculture Regional
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
The quality indicator for metadata completeness: 1.000
[The indicator shows the ratio of metadata replies provided by country per metadata required.]
10.6.2. Further methodological guidelines available at national level
Not applicable.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Standardised methodological report on the Economic Accounts for Agriculture
Standardised methodological report on the Economic Accounts for Agriculture Regional
11.1. Quality assurance
The quality of this statistic is ensured by controls established, both in collection of information and in the subsequent data processing:
- Comparison of statistical data up to the level of provincial geographic detail with respect to the preceding historical series.
- Sending to the Autonomous Communities in order to contrast of results in each item calculated in EAA.
- Review of arithmetic correction in item aggregation.
- Review of the accuracy of the capture of the statistical data that make up the operation.
- Crossing of information sources when there are other sources available, FADN, technical-agronomic information, etc.
- All the outliers detected are check with the source of information and in case of error the data are corrected attending agronomical and technical criteria.
- Strict scrutiny of final results obtained at level of experts in agriculture statistics both in MAPA and the Autonomous Communities.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Not available
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
A user satisfaction survey was conducted in 2025. The results show that the main purpose of the EAA data used was conjunctural analysis, followed by re-elaboration and publication of information and control and monitoring of agricultural policy.
The item that attracted the most interest was agricultural income, followed by Agricultural income, value of crop production, value of animal production and value of intermediate consumption.
79% of respondents rated the extent to which EAA meet their needs as high or very high (80% in 2015).
86% of respondents did not indicate any shortcomings in these statistics or any unmet needs. 14% of users would prefer a major level of breakdown in the items published and specially in crop output. Analysis will be carried out to see the feasibility of wider break down in publications.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
User satisfaction surveys are planned to be conducted every 5 years starting in 2025. A user satisfaction survey was also conducted in 2015.
The results obtained in the 2025 survey were:
Relevance-user needs: 79% of respondents rated the extent to which EAA meet their needs as high or very high (80% in 2015).
Relevance-user satisfaction: Over 71% of participants rated the usefulness of EAA data as high or very high.
Accuracy: 93% of respondents consider that the degree to which the EAA reflects macroeconomic developments in the national agricultural sector is high or very high (80% in 2015).
Opportunity: 79% of respondents rate the publication schedule for the EAA positively or very positively (70% in 2015).
Coherence: 79% of respondents rate the consistency between the various published data, estimates and final data as high or very high. (80% in 2015).
Geographical comparability: 64% of respondents rate the comparability of EAA between Spanish autonomous communities as high or very high. (60% in 2015).
Temporal comparability: 86% of respondents rate the comparability of the EAA between years and in historical series as high or very high (75% in 2015).
12.3. Completeness
All the items included in the list of data transmission have been sent
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
The quality indicator for data completeness shows the following for the reference year 2023 in the detailed EAA: 1.000
[The indicator shows the ratio of data provided per data required, excluding derogations]
13.1. Accuracy - overall
To describe accuracy, the country uses the quality and performance indicator called ‘data revision – average absolute size’ under point 17.2.1 of this document.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not applicable.
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable.
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not applicable.
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable.
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable.
13.3.4. Processing error
Not applicable.
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
TP3: Time lag between the delivery of the data and the target date when it should have been delivered.
| 2023 | Release date | Schedule release date | TP3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| First estimates | 15 January 2023 | 31 January 2023 | -16 |
| Second estimates | 11 April 2024 | 30 April 2024 | -19 |
| Detailed EAA | 28 October 2025 | 31 October 2025 | -3 |
| All releases | All dates | Total average: | -12,7 |
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
The number of days from the last day of the reference period to the day of publication of first results:
| Year | Dfrst | Drefp | T1=Dfrst-Drftp |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 15 October 2023 | 31 December 2023 | -77 |
| 2024 | 16 October 2024 | 31 December 2024 | -76 |
| 2025 | 16 October 2025 | 31 December 2025 | -76 |
| All years | All dates | Total average: | -76,3 |
Dfrst: Release date of first results.
Drefp: Last day (date) of the reference period of the statistics.
T1: Time lag - first results.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Not applicable.
14.2. Punctuality
| 2023 |
Release date |
Schedule release date |
TP3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| First estimates |
15 December 2023 |
31 December 2023 |
-16 |
| Second estimates |
11 April 2024 |
30 April 2024 |
-19 |
| Detailed EAA |
28 October 2025 |
31 October 2025 |
-3 |
| All releases |
All dates |
Total average: |
-12,7 |
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
The quality indicator of punctuality delivered and publication, shows the following for the reference year 2023:
[The indicator shows the time lag of data delivery to Eurostat and the deadline of the transmission. In case data delivered earlier the indicator shows negative value.]
- First estimates: 4
- Second estimates: 0
- Detailed EAA: 4
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The results of EAA are comparable between regions and countries.
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
There have been the following changes in time series:
2007: Following Eurostat guidelines, the methodology for GFCF calculation in animals has been changed from net method to gross method, similar approach has been applied to GFCF in plantations.
2009: Following Eurostat guidelines, the production of Meadows and straw from “AM099000 Other crop products. Other” has been removed to “AM039000 Other forage plants”, also it has started the recording of meadows “grazed”.
2014: Change from SEC 1995 to SEC 2010. This involved changes classification criteria: Small tools from consumption of fixed capital on “AM271000 CFC of equipment” to intermediate consumption on “AM207000 Maintenance of materials” and land improvements from “non-produced non-financial asset” to GFCF as produced asset.
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Indicator of length of comparable time series: CC2=12
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
We found meaningful differences in the large aggregates obtained by elevation of data from the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) compared to the EAA. Analyzing in detail by subsector, the differences are even more important than in the aggregate data of agricultural output, even in sectors for which the EAA have little margin for error due to the existence of administrative data.
This indicates that FADN is not a good tool to extrapolate macro data, given the high diversification of Spanish agriculture and the limitations in sample, something that is especially critic in sectors very heterogeneous like the production of vegetables. Consequently, some caution should be exercised in handling of both macro data extrapolated by elevation.
The different purpose with which both operations were designed determines that their results in terms of entrepreneurial income cannot coincide, since the objective of FADN is to monitor agricultural holdings, while EAA monitors the agricultural sector under a methodology derived from the European System of Accounts 2010.
These different approaches result in the following differences encountered:
- In FADN the statistical unit is agricultural holding, while the statistical unit in EAA is the local kind of activity units (local KAUs) and these includes also the companies dedicated to providing agricultural services (p e.g.: Harvesting of crops, plant protections treatments and other works developed by third parties).
- Additionally, the EAA consider the cooperatives in the olive and winegrowing sectors, oriented towards the transformation of the raw materials supplied by their partners, as companies within the agricultural industry, companies not captured by FADN.
- On the other hand, there are methodological differences in certain items: (AM042000) Plants and flowers: EAAs include the own account gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) in plantations which is not accounted as an output by FADN.
- However, the most significant methodological difference occurs in the accounting of farms oriented to pigs and poultry. The FADN approaches these sectors from the perspective of the cattle farmer, and in this particular sector most part of the cattle farmers work mainly as agents at the service of integrated companies, which supply the feed and piglets or day-old chicks and the cattle farmers fattens the animals up to the final weight, receiving in change a fee for the service rendered. The main income recorded by FADN in this sector is therefore not the amount of the sale of the animals but rather the payment for the service. On the contrary, the EAA methodology considers that the livestock farming activity is an agricultural activity that must be accounted for, regardless of whether or not the company is cattle holding, therefore, the EAA shows a real value of the cattle sold, which implies that the EAA accounts for an output that does not appear in FADN. These different approaches are responsible for strong differences observed in elevation of pig and poultry production data from FADN with respect to the EAA results. In parallel EAA accounts the total feeding stuffs consumed by poultry and pigs farms while FADN only account for the consumption of the few cattle farms that remains independent.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
National accounts use EAA as a source of information and apply the official bridge tables to correct the EAA data to calculate agricultural industry before its aggregation to the rest of industries of national economy, which ensure the coherence between EAA and NA.
15.4. Coherence - internal
There is a complete traceability of the linkage of data from the original statistics with the final result in EAA, which ensure a complete internal coherence.
Restricted from publication
17.1. Data revision - policy
Data revision for Spanish EAA follows the same principles enunciated in Eurostat Economic accounts for agriculture manual (2024 edition). The requirements for producing European Statistics are defined in European Statistical Law (Regulation (EC) 223/2009) which refers to the need for a coordinated release and revision policy. The quality criteria principles for the revision of European Statistics are defined in the European Statistics Code of Practice. The legal requirements on the methodology and data transmissions of EAA stem from Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
In the process of EAA compilation, the following types of revisions can be distinguished: routine revisions and major revisions. Routine revisions are changes in published data which are related to the regular data production process. For example, estimated values for missing data are replaced by reported figures. In this context, EAA data are required 3 times for each reference year t, with the deadlines: 30 November (first estimate), 31 March t+1 (second estimate), and 30 September t+2.The routine revisions should be limited to maximum length of:
- 4 years at the second estimates including revision of the first estimates.
- 4 years at the full set of EAA required by end of September including revision of the second estimates.
Major revisions are the introduction of new data sources or methods used to estimate EAA. These can cause discontinuities in time series and impact the comparability of EAA and REAA data, and with other statistical domains (such as NA) within, and across countries.
As outlined in the ‘Practical guidelines for revising ESA 2010 data’ handbook, major revisions are divided into majorad-hoc revisions and major regular revisions. Both major ad-hoc and benchmark revisions should generate ‘entire time series’ (or as far back as possible). Major ad-hoc revisions are major unscheduled revisions due to methodological changes (e.g. introduction of a new ESA, which would influence the compilation of EAA) or special events (e.g. EU enlargements). Usually, during these revisions, new or changed basic data sources and/or new estimation methods are also incorporated. These major ad-hoc revisions should be coordinated at the level of the relevant expert group (e.g. agro-monetary Working Group under the guidelines of the Directors Group of Agricultural and Fisheries Statistics) based on an agreed timetable.
17.2. Data revision - practice
There where not any major revision in EAA data since the last QR. There where routine revisions see 17.2.1
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Average of absolute revision is the average of absolute revisions for the years referring between the current quality (2023) and the 5-years' earlier.
| Indicator A | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Mean absolute revision (5 reference years) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st estimate | EAA | 1st estimate | EAA | 1st estimate | EAA | 1st estimate | EAA | 1st estimate | EAA | ||
| Spain | 90.45 | 96.81 | 112.47 | 109.23 | 93.97 | 98.35 | 95.50 | 98.03 | 111.10 | 112.92 | 3.67 |
17.2.2. Years where retropolations are carried out and (if they are not yet available) when they will be available
Not applicable.
17.2.3. Details of retropolation method used : items for which estimations are made and assumptions on which these estimations are based
Not applicable.
18.1. Source data
Please see Annex 1.
Annexes:
Annex 1 Source data Spain
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Annually
18.2.1. Time of the year where the updates of the EAA are carried out
Not applicable.
18.2.2. Years covered by each of these updates (i.e. update in September of year n for the years n-1, n-2, n-3 )
Not applicable.
18.3. Data collection
The main source of information comes from:
- Seed production: Volume data from Spanish Office of Plant Varieties (OEVV)
- Livestock movements between regions: Registry of movements of the species of livestock interest,
- Information from Association of Plant Protection Products Producers (AEPLA)
- Spanish State Entity of Agrarian Insurance (ENESA)
- Information from National Association of Fertilizer Producers (ANFFE)
- Information from Food Information and Control Agency (AICA)
18.4. Data validation
All captured information and resulting data undergo a validation process which includes:
- Comparison of statistical data down to the provincial level of geographic detail with the previous historical series.
- Submission to the Autonomous Communities to verify the results of each element calculated in the operation.
- Review of the arithmetic accuracy in the aggregation of elements.
- Review of the accuracy of the capture of the statistical data that comprise the operation.
- Cross-referencing of information sources when others are available, for example: the National Agricultural Accounting Network (RECAN), technical-agronomic information, etc.
- All detected outliers are verified with the information source, and in case of error, the data are corrected according to agronomic and technical criteria.
18.5. Data compilation
The CEAs are calculated using our own software. We have a second software program designed to download the data into the first. Agricultural production and prices are compiled directly into the application as databases, while the remaining information is downloaded from Excel files. Data compilation is performed at the provincial level. The entire process is automated, requiring no manual data entry.
Our software simultaneously generates CEAs at three levels: provincial (NUT III), aggregated (NUT II), and national.
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not applicable.
18.5.2. Calculation procedures
Please see the Calculation procedure for 1st estimates, 2nd estimates and full set of EAA in Annex 2 Methods for valuing EAA items.
Annexes:
Annex 2 Calculation procedures Spain
18.5.3. Estimations
The estimations are calculated by applying to the value of the items in the preceding year the index of variation in price and volume.
Index of prices are provided by agricultural price statistics (output, input) and the index of volume comes from monthly advances on agricultural areas and production, for crops, or estimations based in the monthly information available in different statistics. See details in Annex 1.
18.5.3.1. Components of the Production account : Output
See details in Annex 1
18.5.3.2. Components of the Production account : Intermediate consumption
See details in Annex 1
18.5.3.3. Components of the Generation of income account
The estimation of income account is calculated by arithmetic operation with the items previously calculated following the EAA manual (see details in annex 1):
Factor income = Agricultural output -intermediate consumption - consumption of fixed capital (CFC)+ Other subsidies on production – Other taxes on production
Mixed income = Factor income – Compensation of employees
18.5.3.4. Components of the Entrepreneurial income account
The estimation of Entrepreneurial income account is calculated by arithmetic operation with the items previously calculated following the EAA manual (see details in annex 1):
Entrepreneurial income = Agricultural output -intermediate consumption - consumption of fixed capital (CFC)+ Other subsidies on production – Other taxes on production – Rents and other real estate rental charges to be paid – interest paid – Interests received
18.5.3.5. Elements of the Capital account
Not applicable. Not mandatory according to the current regulation.
18.5.4. Numerical example
Please see Annex 3 Numerical examples.
Annexes:
Annex 3 Numerical example Spain
18.5.5. Calculation of non-deductible VAT
The non-deductible VAT of farmers under the flat-rate system is obtained by applying to the VAT calculated in EAA for all purchases of the agricultural industry, the % of sales of farmers under the flat-rate system with respect to the total sales data of the agricultural industry.
In turn, sales by farmers covered by the flat-rate scheme are obtained by deducting sales by farmers covered by the general VAT scheme, data provided by the Tax Agency, from total sales in the agricultural industry (EAA data). See Annex 3, sheet: “Other subsidies on production”.
18.5.6. Calculation of compensation of VAT
The over-compensation or, where applicable, the under-compensation of VAT is calculated by subtracting from the official figure for VAT compensation paid to farmers under the flat-rate scheme (figure provided by the Tax Agency) the VAT paid by these farmers on their purchases, calculated as indicated in the previous point (18.5.5). See Annex 3, sheet: ‘Other subsidies on production’
18.6. Adjustment
Adjustments are made to adapt data from statistical sources to the requirements or methodology of the EAA. See the subsections.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
18.6.2. Components of the Production account : Output
Wine and vine grapes: The EAA accounts the wine produced by farmers and their cooperatives, this volume is obtained by multiplication of total wine production by the % of wine produced in cooperatives, percentage obtained from the administrative data. This % is also applied to calculate the grape used in agricultural industry and by deduction, the vine grapes sold to factories outside the agricultural industry.
Olive oil olives for oil manufacturing: The EAA accounts the olive oil produced by farmers and their cooperatives, this volume is obtained by multiplication of total oil production by the % of oil produced in cooperatives, percentage obtained from the administrative data. This % is also applied to calculate the olives used in agricultural industry and by deduction, the olives sold to factories outside the agricultural industry.
18.6.3. Components of the Production account : Intermediate consumption
Fertilizers: Statistic of Consumption of Fertilizers in Agriculture provide the fertilizers consumed in agriculture by product and province. This statistic has a bias in certain provinces that must be adjusted according to the normal ratios of agricultural consumption obtained from FADN for these territories.
Electricity: Statistics on electricity provides the electricity consumed in agriculture by province. This statistic has a bias in certain provinces that must be adjusted according to the normal ratios of agricultural consumption obtained from FADN for these territories. Additionally, that statistics does not reflect the consumption of cooperatives which produce vine and olive oil. That consumption is calculated separately according to the standards of the sector and aggregated.
Plant protection products: the National Plant Protection Association (AEPLA) provides the value of the plant production products sold to the farmers by the companies included in in the association. Although AEPLA includes most of the relevant companies in the sector, these data need to be adjusted to cover the total companies of the sector which is done by comparing the volume marketed by AEPLA companies regarding the total volume consumed according to the Plant Protection Consumption Statistic.
Animal feed: The Survey of Manufacturers of Compound Feeds, Additives and Premixes provides the animal feed produced by the manufacturing industry by type of animal feed. These data sometimes show deviations in their evolution from the previous year that do not coincide with the theoretical evolution of livestock consumption. These deviations should be corrected according to calculation models based on the parameters of census and an animal productions.
18.6.4. Components of the Generation of income account
Other taxes: The tax authority provides information on the value land and property taxes for the entire agrarian sector, including forestry. The portion corresponding to forestry is deducted by applying the percentage that forestry represents in the total output of agricultural industry and forestry.
18.6.5. Components of the Entrepreneurial income account
Compensation of employees: The tax authority provides information on wages paid by agricultural entrepreneurs for the entire agrarian sector, including forestry. The portion corresponding to forestry is deducted by applying the percentage that forestry represents in the total output of agricultural industry and forestry.
18.6.6. Elements of the Capital account
GFCF in machinery: The Monthly Statistics of Agricultural Machinery Registration provides information in quantity and value of agricultural machinery recorded during the calendar year. This registration is mandatory for tractors, self-propelled harvesters and plant protection treatment machinery, but the information of the rest of the machines must be increased according to the registration index estimated by the Sub directorate of Agricultural Production Means of MAPA.
We consider that the quality of Spanish EAA data is good and has improved since the last quality report (2017). Improvements have been made in data compilation and calculation through the development of a new web-based application that brings together all the statistics from the MAPA Statistical Unit, ensuring a better connection with primary data sources, providing reliability and robustness against cyber threats, and facilitating adaptation to future IT and methodological changes.
Likewise, the generation and supply of data for Eurostat has expanded significantly, incorporating the generation of regional capital account and the generation of regional accounts calculated at the previous year's prices.
The Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA) provide an overview of the agricultural activities in a systematic and comparable way to serve as basis for analyses, forecasts and political measures. The methodology is laid down in Annex I of the Regulation (EC) 138/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The EAA methodological manual provides further details and clarifications (LINK).
3 August 2026
The EAA are a satellite account of the ESA providing complementary information and concepts adapted to the particular nature of the agricultural industry.
The EAA are shown as a sequence of inter-related accounts. As the EAA are based on the industry concept, the sequence of accounts is limited to the first accounts of the current accounts:
- the production account (its balancing item: value added)
- the generation-of-income account (its balancing item: operating surplus).
Nevertheless EAA contains other accounts (of the ESA) at least partly:
- the entrepreneurial income account (one of the current accounts) and
- the capital account (one of the accumulation accounts).
The EAA provide a wide range of indicators on the economic activities of the agricultural sector: these include output, intermediate consumption, gross and net value added, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF), both at current prices and at reference year prices, as well as compensation of employees, other taxes and subsidies on production, net operating surplus or net mixed income, property income and net entrepreneurial income at current prices. (see for more details points 1.40-1.48 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.)
Three income indicators are defined in the EAA:
- Index of the real income of factors in agriculture per annual work unit (indicator A).
- Index of real net agricultural entrepreneurial income per unpaid annual work unit (indicator B).
- Net entrepreneurial income of agriculture (indicator C).
See for more details chapter 5 in Annex I of Regulation (EC) 138/2004.
The statistical unit is the local kind of activity unit.
In order to provide more detailed information and to analyse flows generated by the production process and the use of goods and services, it is necessary to select units which emphasise relationships of a technical-economic kind. This means that, institutional units are broken-down into smaller and more homogeneous units with regard to the kind of production (local kind-of-activity units/local KAUs) (ESA 2010, 2.147).
The local KAU is defined as the part of a KAU which corresponds to a local unit. The institutional unit's information system is capable of indicating or calculating for each local KAU at least the value of output, intermediate consumption, compensation of employees, the operating surplus and employment and gross fixed capital formation (ESA 2010, 2.148).
The agricultural holding is the local KAU most appropriate to the agricultural industry. However, the variety of agricultural activities that can be performed on agricultural holdings makes them a special type of local KAU. The strict application of the ESA rule to units and their group should in fact result in a division of the agricultural holding into several separate local KAUs in cases where several activities of the NACE Rev. 2 four-digit class are performed on the same holding and the information required according to the explanations above is available. The adoption of the agricultural holding as the local KAU of the agricultural industry in the national accounts (NA) and EAA is based on a statistical approach.
The speciality and the aim of EAA is to cover all agricultural activity carried out by an agricultural holding or any other local KAU not having agriculture as its main activity.
The use of the local KAU as the basic unit for the agricultural industry entails recording non-agricultural secondary activities where they cannot be distinguished from the main agricultural activity (inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities of local agricultural KAUs). The selection criterion for inseparable non-agricultural secondary activities is rather the type of activity than the nature of the product. For example, agro-tourism services provided by a farm are only included if they cannot be separated from its agricultural activities.
The agricultural industry includes all local KAUs at local level which perform the economic activities, as principal or secondary activity corresponds to Division 01 in NACE Rev. 2 (cf. 1.60 to 1.66 of EAA Reg.)
The entire territory of the country.
2023 calendar year.
To describe accuracy, the country uses the quality and performance indicator called ‘data revision – average absolute size’ under point 17.2.1 of this document.
EAA data at current prices and at prices for the preceding year are given in millions of units of national currency.
Agricultural labour input data are given in thousand annual work units (AWU).
The CEAs are calculated using our own software. We have a second software program designed to download the data into the first. Agricultural production and prices are compiled directly into the application as databases, while the remaining information is downloaded from Excel files. Data compilation is performed at the provincial level. The entire process is automated, requiring no manual data entry.
Our software simultaneously generates CEAs at three levels: provincial (NUT III), aggregated (NUT II), and national.
Please see Annex 1.
Annexes:
Annex 1 Source data Spain
Yearly
TP3: Time lag between the delivery of the data and the target date when it should have been delivered.
| 2023 | Release date | Schedule release date | TP3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| First estimates | 15 January 2023 | 31 January 2023 | -16 |
| Second estimates | 11 April 2024 | 30 April 2024 | -19 |
| Detailed EAA | 28 October 2025 | 31 October 2025 | -3 |
| All releases | All dates | Total average: | -12,7 |
The results of EAA are comparable between regions and countries.
There have been the following changes in time series:
2007: Following Eurostat guidelines, the methodology for GFCF calculation in animals has been changed from net method to gross method, similar approach has been applied to GFCF in plantations.
2009: Following Eurostat guidelines, the production of Meadows and straw from “AM099000 Other crop products. Other” has been removed to “AM039000 Other forage plants”, also it has started the recording of meadows “grazed”.
2014: Change from SEC 1995 to SEC 2010. This involved changes classification criteria: Small tools from consumption of fixed capital on “AM271000 CFC of equipment” to intermediate consumption on “AM207000 Maintenance of materials” and land improvements from “non-produced non-financial asset” to GFCF as produced asset.
