Most of the 9.1 million farms in the EU are family-run

There were 9.1 million farms in the EU in 2020, the vast majority of which (an estimated 93%) can be classified as family farms (i.e. farms under family management where 50% or more of the agricultural labour force was provided by family workers). Family farms dominate the structure of EU agriculture in terms of the number of holdings, their contribution to agricultural employment and, to a lesser degree, the area of land that they cultivate and the value of the output they generate. 

Almost six in every ten farms (about 57%) were operated only by the holder and family members. On a further 36% of farms, family labour accounted for at least 50% of total labour. 
 

Source dataset:   Agricultural Census

Family farms accounted for a majority of the utilised agricultural area in 2020 (about 61% of the 157.4 million hectares used), most of the total agricultural labour force (almost 78%), a majority of the livestock units (almost 55%) and standard output (about 56%).

Although non-family farms only represented about 7% of all farms in the EU in 2020, they accounted for much higher shares of the amount of land used for agricultural production (about 39%), of the total labour force (about 22%), of livestock units (about 45%) and of standard output (about 44%).

Family farms accounted for at least 80% of all farms in all EU countries, except for Estonia (65%) and France (58%). The EU countries with the highest shares of family farms were Greece, Romania and Poland (all with about a 99% share of all farms).

Source dataset:  Agricultural Census