Key figures on food chain – employment in agriculture

Key figures on the European food chain - 2025 edition, published in December, traces the journey of our food from farm to fork using the most recent data. The publication covers the entire food chain, including production, processing, distribution, international trade, consumption and environmental concerns. Today, we focus on the people who produce the food, the EU’s agricultural workforce.

In 2023, there were 8.4 million people employed in the EU’s agricultural sector (including hunting and related service activities). As the number of farms declined, agricultural employment fell, with its share of the EU workforce dropping from 5.2% in 2013 to 3.9% in 2023. These developments were often driven by labour-saving technologies, such as mechanisation, automation and other innovations. 

Between 2013 and 2023, agriculture’s share of total employment fell in every EU country, with the largest decreases in Romania (down 8.9 percentage points), Croatia and Portugal (-4.7 percentage points each).

Source dataset: nama_10_a64_e

The Key figures on the European food chain - 2025 edition offers essential data on the EU and allows you to compare developments across EU and EFTA countries. For a more detailed view of the EU’s performance in other fields, explore other Key figures publications.