The Farm Structure Survey, abbreviated as FSS and also known as the Survey on the structure of agricultural holdings, is carried out by all European Union (EU) Member States. The FSS is conducted consistently throughout the EU on a regular basis using a common methodology, thereby providing comparable and representative statistics across countries and time, at regional levels (down to the NUTS 3 level). Every 3 or 4 years, the FSS is carried out as a sample survey, and once every ten years as a census.
The 2000 census covered the EU-15 Member States, Latvia, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Norway, while the 2010 census covered the EU-27 2007 Member States as well as Croatia, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Montenegro, Albania, Serbia, and Kosovo*. In 2010, a special survey, the Survey on agricultural production methods (SAPM) was carried out. SAPM was carried out together with the FSS 2010 census in some countries, whereas in other countries the survey was carried out as a sample survey and data were linked to data of the census at the level of the individual holdings to enable cross comparisons of variables collected in SAPM and variables collected in the census.
The in-between sample surveys of 2003, 2005 and 2007 covered the EU-27 2007 Member States and Norway. In 2013 and 2016, the survey covered the EU-28 Member States; Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia also sent farm structure data for at least one of these two years to Eurostat.
For 2020 and 2023, the data collections were organised based on core and modules. The coverage (census/sample) can vary across the core and modules, as well as across the size of farms (small farms in the frame extension and bigger farms in the main frame). Thus, Figure 1 for these years illustrates the coverage (census/sample) of the core data for the bigger farms in the main frame. The 2020 data collection covered the EU-27 2020 Member States, as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, while the 2023 data collection covered the EU-27 2020 Member States, as well as Norway, Montenegro and Serbia.
The data available by year and country since 1999/2000 can be seen in Figure 1.
The countries collect information from individual agricultural holdings and, observing strict rules of confidentiality, data is forwarded to Eurostat. The information collected covers cropland areas, livestock numbers, rural development, management and farm labour input (including the age, gender and relationship to the holder of the agricultural holding). The data can then be aggregated by different geographic levels (e.g., countries, regions). The data can also be arranged by physical and economic size classes, area status, legal status of the holding, and farm type.
The basic unit underlying the FSS is the agricultural holding. The FSS covers all agricultural holdings that meet the minimum requirements set in the applicable legislation, see also the article on Farm structure survey – survey coverage.
The legal basis for the years 1999/2000, 2003, 2005 and 2007 was Council Regulation (EC) No 2467/96 of 17 December 1996 amending Regulation (EEC) No 571/88 on the organization of Community surveys on the structure of agricultural holdings.
The legal basis for the years 2009/2010, 2013 and 2016 was Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008 of 19 November 2008 on farm structure surveys and the survey on agricultural production methods, which repealed Council Regulation (EEC) No 571/88.
The legal basis for the years 2019/2020, 2023 and 2026 is Regulation (EU) 2018/1091 of 18 July 2018 on integrated farm statistics, which repealed Regulation (EC) No 1166/2008.
(*) This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.
Further information
- Farm structure (ESMS metadata file — ef_esms)
- Farm structure survey — methodological articles