Data extracted in April 2026

Planned article update: April 2029

Farms and farmland in the European Union - statistics

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Data extracted in April 2026

Planned article update: April 2029

Highlights

There were 8.8 million agricultural holdings in the EU in 2023, about 3 in 5 (62.8%) of which were less than 5 ha in size.
EU farms used 156 million hectares (ha) of land for agricultural production in 2023, 38.1% of the total land area of the EU.
The number of farms in the EU has been in steep decline, but the amount of land used for production has changed relatively little.
Vertical bar chart showing percentage distribution of EU farms and utilised agricultural area according to farm size. Eight size ranges in hectares, each have two columns representing farms and UAA for the year 2023. For more details please use the link to the source dataset code below the image.
Source: Eurostat (ef_fsi_physz) and (ef_fsi_physz)

The EU's farms are numerous and varied; they are of all sizes, varied in terms of what is grown or animals that are reared, run under different management structures and found in areas that have different geologies, topographies and climates.

Farms in 2023

There were 8.8 million agricultural holdings in the EU in 2023

In 2023, there were 8.8 million agricultural holdings in the EU, of which 2.9 million holdings (the equivalent of 32.6%) were in Romania. There were more than twice the number of farms in Romania as the next EU country; there were 1.3 million farms in Italy (the equivalent of 14.3% of the EU total), with 1.2 million farms in Poland (14.0%) and 0.8 million in Spain (9.1%). Together, these 4 countries accounted for 70.1% of all farms in the EU.

The vast majority of the EU's farms are family farms

The overwhelming majority (about 93% in 2020) of the EU's farms are classed as being family farms, defined as being farms on which 50% or more of the agricultural labour force is provided by family members. Family farms were the dominant farm type in all EU countries.

Most of the EU's farms are small in nature

Almost two-thirds (a provisional 62.8%) of the EU's farms were less than 5 hectares (ha) in size in 2023 (see Figure 1). These small farms can play an important role in reducing the risk of rural poverty, providing additional income and food. At the other end of the production scale, 7.6% of the EU's farms were of 50 ha or more in size and worked two-thirds (68.3%) of the EU's utilised agricultural area (UAA). Although the average mean size of an agricultural holding in the EU was 17.8 ha in 2023, only about 17% of farms were this size or larger.

Vertical bar chart showing percentage distribution of EU farms and utilised agricultural area according to farm size. Eight size ranges in hectares, each have two columns representing farms and UAA for the year 2023. For more details please use the link to the source dataset code below the image.
Figure 1: Distribution of EU farms and utilised agricultural area according to farm size
Source: Eurostat (ef_fsi_physz), and (ef_fsi_physz))

This distribution pattern was particularly clear in Romania, the EU country with the highest number of farms; 9 in every 10 farms (90.2% or 2.6 million farms) were smaller than 5 ha, but the 1.0% of all farms that were of 50 ha or more in size farmed a little over one half (53.1%) of all the UAA in the country. Small farms of under 5 ha represented a majority of all farms in Malta (97.0% of the total), Cyprus (88.0%), Greece (73.%), Portugal (71.1%), Croatia (70.1%), Bulgaria (61.3%), Italy (60.6%), Slovenia (57.6%), Hungary (55.0%), and Poland (50.7%). The number of small farms in certain EU countries and regions reflects a mixture of crop specialisation (such as small olive groves and vineyards), of wide land ownership, and geological and topographical constraints.

Larger farms (of 50 hectares or more) were relatively common in Luxembourg (53.0% of all farms), France (48.4%), Finland (35.1%), Denmark (33.6%), and Germany (32.0%). In most EU countries, a majority of UAA was concentrated on the largest farms (50 ha or more in size). Indeed, the largest farms in Czechia (27.2% of the total) and in Slovakia (20.9% of the total) accounted for as much as 92% of their respective utilised agricultural areas, the highest proportions among EU countries.

EU farms can be characterised in three distinct size groups

Broadly-speaking, there are 3 distinct groups of farms in the EU: (i) semi-subsistence farms, where the focus is on growing a high proportion of food to feed farmers and their families (ii) small and medium-sized farms that are generally family-run businesses and (ii) large agricultural enterprises which are more likely to have a legal form or be cooperatives.

These distinctions are made clearer by analysing farms in terms of their economic size. Of the EU's 8.8 million farms, one third (2.9 million holdings) had a standard output below €2 000 per year and were responsible for generating only 1% of the EU's total agricultural economic output. These very small farms are at the (semi-) subsistence end of the farming scale.

A further 2.5 million farms had an economic output within the range of €2 000 - €8 000 per year. Together these very small and small farms accounted for approaching two-thirds (62.2%) of all farms in the EU in 2023 but were responsible for only 3.4% of the EU’s total agricultural economic output.

In contrast, 330 000 farms (3.8% of the EU total) each produced a standard output of €250 000 per year or more in 2023 and were responsible for a majority (60.1%) of the EU's total agricultural economic output; these farms can be characterised as being large agricultural enterprises.

A majority (57.0%) of the standard output generated by agriculture across the EU was from the combined farms in France (17.7%), Italy (14.9%), Germany (12.8%), and Spain (11.6%) in 2023. Although Romania accounted for about one third of the EU's farms, it accounted for only 3.7% of the EU's standard output (see Figure 2).

Horizontal bar chart showing percentage share of EU total farms and standard output in individual EU Member States. Each country has two bars representing farms and standard output for the year 2023. For more details please use the link to the source dataset code below the image.
Figure 2: Farms and standard output, 2023
Source: Eurostat (ef_fsi_ecsz)

EU farms remain diverse in terms of what they grow or rear

The diversity of farm types can be shown according to what is grown or reared, based on whether there is a single dominant activity or not. A farm is specialised when a particular activity provides at least two-thirds of the production or the business size of an agricultural holding. Others have a mix of activities in which no one activity dominates.

Some farms are specialised in crop production, whether that be where field crop activities are the dominant activity, or where permanent crops (like apples, grapes and olives) dominate, or indeed horticultural activities. Some farms are specialised in animal production and animal products, whether that be where grazing livestock or granivores (such as pigs and poultry) dominate. Other farms have a mix of crops, mix of livestock, or mix of crops and livestock.

Almost 6 in every 10 farms (58.9%) in the EU could be categorised as being crop specialist farms in 2023. About one third (35.0%) of all farms were specialised in field cropping, about one fifth (21.6%) were specialised in permanent crops, with the remainder (2.4%) being specialist horticultural farms. In this grouping of crop specialists, specialist cereals, oilseeds and protein crop farms were the most numerous in 2023 (18.3% of all EU farms – see Figure 3). This was closely followed by general field cropping farms that specialised in root crops (such as potatoes and sugar beet), in field vegetables and field crops (16.7% of all EU farms).

Another one fifth (20.6%) of the EU's farms were specialist livestock farms, with specialist dairy farms (4.7%) and specialist cattle-rearing and fattening (4.2%) the most numerous within this group. Mixed farms accounted for another one fifth (20.0%) of the EU’s farms in 2023, with a small percentage of farms not being classifiable.

Two layer doughnut chart showing percentage share of all EU farms by type of specialisation. The inner layer has three sections representing crop specialists, livestock specialists and mixed faming. The outer layer further breaks down the three specialisations by specific plants and animal specialisations for the year 2023. For more details please use the link to the source dataset code below the image.
Figure 3: Farms by type of specialisation
Source: Eurostat (ef_fsi_ecsz)

In many Mediterranean countries (Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, Greece and Malta), as well as Finland and Hungary, specialist cropping was the dominant farm type (with a share of more than 70% of all farms), while in parts of north-west Europe (Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands), as well as Austria, specialist livestock farming was the dominant activity (with a share of more than 50% of all farms). Between 30% and 41% of farms were mixed holdings in Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia, and Romania in 2023.

Farms managed a little less than one half (45.6%) of the total land area of the EU in 2023

Farms in the EU managed 156.2 million hectares as UAA in 2023, corresponding to 38.1% of the total land area of the EU, and an additional 31.2 million hectares as either un-utilised agricultural areas, wooded areas or other areas on farms.

Agricultural landscapes dominated the countryside in a few EU countries; about 73.6% of Ireland’s land area was used as agricultural land in 2023 and the share was also particularly high in Denmark (62.6%). In Hungary, Romania, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, slightly more than one half of the total land area was used as agricultural land. This was in starkest contrast to Finland and Sweden where forests dominated the landscape. In these 2 Nordic countries, agricultural land use only represented the equivalent of 7.4% and 7.3% of their respective total land areas. Indeed, they were the only EU countries where woodland belonging to agricultural holdings accounted for a higher share of the land area than that used for agricultural purposes (see Figure 4).

Stacked vertical bar chart showing percentage share of total land area land belonging to farms by type of land in the EU, individual EU Member States. Each country column contains two stacks representing utilised and unitilised agricultural areas on farms. For more details please use the link to the source dataset code below the image.
Figure 4: Land belonging to farms by type of land
Source: Eurostat (ef_fsi_lus) and (reg_area3)

France (27.2 million ha) and Spain (23.5 million ha) had the largest utilised agricultural areas in the EU in 2023, 17.4% and 15.0%, respectively, of the EU total. There were also more than 10 million hectares of UAA in Germany (16.6 million ha, equivalent to 10.6% of the EU total), Poland (14.6 million ha, or 9.3% of the EU total), Romania (12.6 million ha, or 8.0%) and Italy (12.4 million ha, or 7.9%).

In 2023, a majority (56.2%) of the total land area of Denmark was dedicated to arable land, by far the highest share of any EU country – see Figure 5. In Ireland, a majority (54.0%) of the total land area was dedicated to permanent grassland, double the share of any other EU country. In Portugal, a tenth (9.9%) of the total land area was dedicated to permanent crops like vineyards, olive groves and citrus fruit orchards, with a similar proportion in Spain (9.1%).

Stacked vertical bar chart showing percentage share of total land area land belonging to farms by type of land in the EU, individual EU Member States. Each country column contains four stacks representing unitilised agricultural areas, permanent crops, permanent grassland and arable areas on farms. For more details please use the link to the source dataset code below the image.
Figure 5: Land belonging to farms by type of land
Source: Eurostat Eurostat (ef_fsi_lus) and (reg_area3)

The evolution of farms and farmland between 2005 and 2023

The number of farms has been in steep decline

The number of farms in the EU has been in decline for a long time. In the relatively short period between 2005 and 2023, there was a loss of 5.6 million farms across EU countries, equivalent to an estimated decline of 39%.

Over this period, there were fewer farms in every EU country. The largest reductions were recorded in Romania (a loss of 1.4 million farms, equivalent to a decline of -33%), Poland (an indicative loss of 1.2 million farms, or -50%), Hungary (a loss of 0.5 million farms, or -74%), Italy (an indicative loss of 0.5 million farms, or -27%), and Bulgaria (an indicative loss of 0.4 million farms, or -80%).

Most farms lost in the smallest size classes: remaining farms getting larger

The decline in the overall number of farms in the EU largely reflected the sharp decline in the number of the very smallest farms; between 2005 and 2023, the EU had 4.9 million fewer farms under 5 ha. Nevertheless, there were also lower EU farm numbers in each size up to 100 ha. Through consolidation and acquisition, there was an increase of 75 000 farms in the EU that were of a size greater than 100 ha.

This pattern of restructuring (see Figure 6) was reflected in most EU countries, though the farm size at which numbers started increasing was sometimes considerably lower than the over 100 ha classes. For example, in Italy farm numbers grew in each size class between 5 ha and 249.9 ha. In Bulgaria, farm numbers rose in each size class over 10 ha and in Romania in each class over 20 ha.

An interesting dichotomy appeared in Denmark, with growth in the number of the very smallest (each size class under 5 ha) and very largest farms (over 250 ha). A similar development was noted in Ireland, for holdings under 2 ha and those over 100 ha. This seems to reflect a development in some countries for farms with no or little UAA but with animals kept in farm buildings, contributing to the overall increase in the economic size of farms.

Vertical bar chart showing percentage development in the number of farms and utilised agricultural area by size class in the EU. The total and eight size ranges in hectares, each have two columns representing number of farms and UAA from the year 2005 to 2023. For more details please use the link to the source dataset code below the image.
Figure 6: Development in the number of farms and utilised agricultural area by size class
Source: Eurostat (ef_fsi_physz), (ef_fsi_physz) and (ef_fsi_physz)

The amount of land used in the EU for agricultural production changed little

The amount of land that was used for agricultural production changed little between 2005 and 2023 (down 0.6% between these two survey years), despite the sharp reduction in farm numbers. At the EU-level, this consolidation of agricultural land was reflected in the growth in the average size of farms, from about 11 ha in 2005 to 18 ha in 2023.

Legal form of holdings growing

There were about 407 000 farms in the EU that had a legal basis in 2023, the equivalent of 4.6% of all farms. This represented an increase of 90 000 farms taking this form in the period between 2005 and 2023, and increases were noted in every farm size category. The equivalent share of all EU farms that had a legal basis in 2005 was 2.2%.

About 45% of all EU farms over 100 ha had a legal basis in 2023, a similar proportion that in 2005 (43%). This share was as high as 58% of all EU farms over 250 ha in 2023.

Farms with no UAA accounted for the sharpest percentage point increase in farms with a legal basis: from 4.1% of all EU farms with no UAA in 2005 to 13.1% in 2023. Most of these farms raise or finish animals indoors with no utilised agricultural area.

Source data for tables and graphs

Data sources

Farm structure data are collected from agricultural censuses every ten years and from sample surveys every 3 or 4 years in between. The main tables from the 2023 survey are gradually being published and are used in this analysis.

Explanatory note

The implementation of the Integrated Farm Statistics (IFS) introduced a division of the target population into two components: the ‘main frame’ includes agricultural holdings above physical thresholds defined in the legislation, while the ‘frame extension’ covers smaller holdings below these thresholds. In the legislative framework, data collection requirements for below-threshold units vary across time. This variability leads to gaps in data availability for the entire population of agricultural holdings and poses challenges for the comparability of results. To address this issue, an estimation procedure based on imputation techniques applied at the level of microdata has been developed to produce consistent estimates for below-threshold units where data are missing, which have been published in the Eurobase datasets under Farm structural indicators [ef_fsi].

Context

Farming is an activity that is about growing crops and raising livestock. It is the business of providing key primary ingredients for the food that we eat and much of what we drink. Farming draws on a set of resources to produce these agricultural goods, as well as agricultural services. These resources or 'factors of production' can be broadly categorised as land, labour, knowledge, capital and entrepreneurship.

Within the EU, the farming sector operates under the common agricultural policy (CAP), which has been reformed a number of times over the years. The common agricultural policy plays a pivotal role in shaping the EU’s agricultural industry. Recent reforms have encouraged greener practices by allocating more funds to conservation and biodiversity. The common agricultural policy also supports farmers’ livelihoods, ensures food supply and security by stabilising agricultural markets, while contributing to EU trade negotiations by maintaining high quality and safety standards for agricultural products.

The EU’s new Vision for Agriculture and Food is central to building a sustainable food system and protecting biodiversity, while securing rural livelihoods and enhancing the stability of the food chain, alongside ambitions to achieve climate neutrality. Key priorities include: strengthening the role of farmers in the food value chain; promoting sustainable farming practices and empowering consumers to choose balanced, eco-friendly diets; encouraging generational renewal and gender equality; making knowledge, training and skills more accessible; improving resilience by helping the food system adapt to shocks, such as climate change, market volatility or systemic crises.

Footnotes

Explore further

Other articles

Database
Farm structure (ef)
Farm structural indicators (ef_fsi)
Physical size of farms by utilised agricultural area and legal form (ef_fsi_physz)
Average economic size of farms by standard output, farm type and age of farm manager (ef_fsi_ecsz)
Regional statistics by NUTS classification (reg)
Area by NUTS 3 region (reg_area3)


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