Economic accounts for agriculture - Year 2025

In 2025, the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector recorded a slight growth in real output of 0.3%. Over the same period, value added remained broadly stable (-0.1%), while employment decreased by 0.5%.

Output volume increased for olive oil (+9.6%), cereals (+4.1%), wine (+2.9%) and flowers and nurseries (+1.5%). The year was unfavorable for fruit (-7.3%), dried legumes (-3.2%), industrial crops (-1.9%), fodder (-1.3%), and citrus fruits (-1.0%).

In 2025, both agricultural output prices (+3.8%) and the prices of goods and services used in the sector (+1.0%) increased.

Italy maintained its position as the leading EU Member State in terms of agriculture value added, but falling to fourth place in terms of output value.

Prices increase, output rises and the agri-food sector strengthens

In 2025, the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector generated €80.1 billion euro of output at current prices, up 3.9% compared with €77.1 billion in 2024. Growth was driven by a significant increase in prices (+3.6%) while output volumes remained nearly stable (+0.3%). The sector’s value added reached €46.6 billion, compared with €44.2 billion in the previous year. This increase was primarily due to higher prices (+5.6%), despite a slight decline in the volumes (-0.1%). This result was achieved within a national macroeconomic context characterized by moderate growth in value added in volume (+0.4%).

Output in the agricultural sector increased by 4.2% at current prices, reaching €75.2 billion (€72.2 billion in 2024). Growth was driven almost entirely by prices (+3.8%), with volumes remaining broadly stable (+0.3%). Crop output grew moderately in both volumes and current prices; livestock output recorded a significantly increase at current prices and unchanged in volume terms. Agriculture support activities experienced a slight decline in volumes and an increase in current prices, while secondary activities expanded both in volumes and value terms.

In 2025, intermediate consumption in agricultural sector increased by 0.9% in volume terms (+1,0% the increase of the prices of the goods and services used). Value added at current prices increased by 5.9%, reaching €43.1 billion compared with €40.7 billion in 2024, despite a slight decline in volume terms (-0.2%). Italy confirmed its positions as the country with the highest agricultural value added in the European Union.

Among the non-agricultural sectors, forestry recorded an almost unchanged output value in 2025, with prices declining slightly (-0.2%) and volumes increasing modestly (+0.1%). Fishing registered the sharpest decline in volumes (-0.6%), partially offset by rising prices (+2.5%), with an overall increase in output value of 1.9%.

The agri-food sector—comprising agriculture, forestry and fishing with together the food, beverage and tobacco industry—generated €89 billion in value added in 2025, compared with €83.4 billion in 2024. Growth in volume terms (+0.7%) was driven primarily by the food, beverage, and tobacco industry (+1.4%). The share of agri-food added value in  total national value added rose to 4.4% from 4.2% in 2024. The contribution of the primary sector contribution remained stable at 2.3%, while share of the food industry increased to 2.1%, compared with 1.9% in the previous year.

Employment declines, while labour income and GFCF increase

In 2025, employment in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector, measured in full time equivalent units (Fte), decreased by 0.5%. The decline in self-employed labour input (-2.2%) was not fully offset by the increase in employees labour input (+2.3%). Within the agri-food sector labor input remained broadly stable (-0.1%), while employment in the food industry increased by 0.9%. Compensation of employees in agriculture, forestry, and fishing increased by 1.0%, with gross wages and salaries increasing by 0.9%. Gross fixed capital formation recorded a significant increase both in current prices and volume terms, rising by 5.3% and 4.8%, respectively.

Cereals, wine and olive oil perform well; fruit and vegetables decline; livestock reaches a new record

In 2025, the main agricultural sectors showed different economic performances across crops and livestock output.

Crops output, accounting for 52.7% of total agricultural goods and services output, showed substantial resilience: both volumes and prices grew by 0.6%, resulting in an output value of 37.5 billion euros (+1.2% compared with 2024).

In 2025, field crop output increased by 1.0% in volume terms but, due to a significant decline in prices (-2.9%), output value decreased by 2%, amounting to €18.7 billion. Among these crops, cereals recorded a strong performance (output increased by 4.1% in volume term and by 5.8% at current prices). Vegetables output remained virtually unchanged in volume terms (+0.1%) but recorded a sharp decline in value (-5.8%) due to lower prices (-5.9%).

Woody crops output at current prices (€16.8 billion) increased by 4.0%, mainly as a result of higher prices (+3.7%) alongside a slight increase in volumes (+0.3%). Olive oil production benefited from more favorable weather conditions than in the previous year, with good yields particularly in Southern Italy: output at current prices increased by 5.9%, supported by higher output volumes (+9.6%) despite a decline in prices (-3.4%). Wine production also performed positively, with output increasing by 3.1% at current prices. Volumes rose by 2.9% and prices holding steady (+0.1%), supported by favorable results in both Central and Southern Italy and selected areas of Northern Italy. Fruit was the sector that experienced the most pronounced imbalance between volumes and prices: output at current prices increased by 10.1%, entirely driven by a sharp increase in prices (+18.8%), which more than compensated for the significant  decline in output volumes (-7.3%).

Livestock output, accounting for 35.2% of total agricultural output, maintained unchanged volumes in 2025; however, a market increase in prices (+9.8%) resulted in a 9.9% increase in output value. In 2025, the value of livestock output exceeded €25 billion, surpassing the previous record level achieved in 2024 (€22.8 billion) and  reaching the highest level ever recorded by the sector.

Output generated from agricultural support activities amounted to €8.6 billion in 2025. Output at current prices grew by 0.7%, reflecting a  decline in volumes (-0.9%) and higher prices (+1.6%). The value of secondary non-agricultural activities output reached €5.3 billion, increasing by 5.2% as a result of growth in both volumes (+1.3%) and prices (+3.8%).

In 2025, intermediate consumption in agricultural exceeded €32 billion, accounting for 42.7% of total agricultural output. In value term, intermediate consumption grew by 1.9% compared with 2024, reflecting a recovery volume (+0.9%) and a moderate increase in prices (+1.0%). The main expenditure items were feed (€8.2 billion), energy (€4.7 billion), seeds (€2.3 billion) and fertilizers (€2.1 billion). The most significant increase concerned the use of energy in output processes, which rose by 7.4% in volume terms.

Costs return to growth, but profitability remains resilient

As noted above, agricultural output prices increased by 3.8% in 2025, although developments varied considerable across sectors.

Within the crop sector, the average increase in prices were limited (+0.6%), but substantial differences emerged among individual product groups. Besides fruit (+18.8%), the largest prices increases were recorded for fodder (+10.4%), horticulture (+6.6%) and legumes (+4.0%). Conversely, prices declined for vegetables (-5.9%), citrus fruits (-2.4%), and industrial crops (-1.7%).

The main contributor to overall agricultural price growth originated from livestock sector. Price increases affected most livestock products, with particularly significant rises for bovine meat (+19.9%),  poultry meat (15.5%), eggs (+15.4%) and milk (+8.7%).

Prices also increased in agricultural support activities (+1.6%), particularly for subcontracted processing; prices for secondary activities also increased significantly (+3.8%), especially for feed, meat, and milk processing.

Regarding intermediate consumptions, the prices of goods and services used in agriculture output increased by 1.0% on average in 2025, following declines in 2023 (-3.7%) and 2024 (-7.3%). The most significant increases concerned: transport (+3.5%), irrigation water (+2.9%), seeds (+2.8%), and fertilizers (+2.4%). By contrast, prices declined for  energy (-2.8%) and feed (-0.4%).

The positive differential between the agriculture output prices and input prices resulted in a improvement in the sector’s terms of market ratio, which increased by 3.0% in 2025. Although lower than the favorable increase recorded in 2024 (+8.6%), this development remained positive and continued to support agriculture profitability.

Following a decade (2010-2020) characterized by a broad balance between costs and revenues, the two-year period 2021-2022 saw a substantial compression of profit margins due to the sharp increase in output costs. Since 2023, the situation has gradually reversed: output costs have begun to decline while output prices have resumed growth. As a result, agriculture terms of market ratio have returned to levels above those observed prior the COVIS-19 crisis, confirming a phase of improved profitability for the agricultural sector.

The South drives value growth, while prices recover strongly in the Northern Italy

In 2025, output in the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sector increased in volume terms in the Northwest (+0.7%), the Centre (+0.6%) and the South (+0.6%), while it decreased in the Northeast (-0.2%) and the Islands (-0.1%). In terms of value added, growth in volume was recorded only in the South (+1.8%) and the Centre (+0.2%). By contrast, value added decreased in the remaining macro-regions: Northeast (-1.6%), Northwest (-0.8%), Islands (-0.6%).

The positive performance in the Northwest was mainly supported by Liguria and Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste, while growth in the South was driven primarily by Abruzzo and Calabria; and in Centre, the strongest contribution came by Marche and Umbria. Conversely, the negative performance of the Northeast was driven primarily by Friuli Venezia Giulia and Emilia-Romagna, while in the Islands, the decline was largely attributable to Sicily was the main driver.

At the regional level, agricultural performance remained highly heterogeneous. The largest increases in output volume were recorded in Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste (+6.7%), Marche (+5.0%), Abruzzo (+3.8%). The most significant declines were observed in Emilia-Romagna (-2.1%) and  Friuli Venezia-Giulia (-1.4%). A similar pattern emerged for value added. The strongest increases were observed in Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste (+13.2%), Marche (+10.0%), Abruzzo (+7.1%). The most significant contractions was concentrated in Emilia-Romagna (-6.0%).

Producer prices increased in most Italian regions. The most significant increases were recorded in Piedmont (+7,1%), Lombardy (+7.1%) and Emilia-Romagna (+6.0%). Producer prices declined only in Puglia (-1.7%), Calabria (-1.1%), and Abruzzo (-0.6%).

Prices of goods and services used in agricultural output increased most markedly in Campania (+5.1%) and Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste (+4.6%).

Within crops output, the largest increases of the output in volume terms were observed in Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste (+21.8%) and Marche (+19.3%). These results were largely supported by strong performance in viticulture, cereals and fruit output. In livestock output, the greatest growth in volumes occurred in the autonomous province of Bolzano/Bozen, in Puglia and Campania, and was mainly driven by milk. Support activities showed strong expansion in Valle d’Aosta/Vallée d’Aoste and Liguria, secondary activities in Lombardy and Tuscany.

EU Agriculture: Output, value added, and agricultural incomes increase

This section presents the results of the Economic Accounts for Agriculture (EAA), the satellite accounts compiled according to the methodology established by Eurostat to ensure comparability among the Member States of the European Union (EU27). The methodological approach of the EAA presents some differences from that adopted for the National Accounts; for this reason, the data reported in this section may not fully coincide with those presented in the previous part of this Report.

According to the provisional data available to date from the agricultural satellite account for 2025, the EU27 agricultural sector showed growth in both output and income. The value of agriculture output reached €562.5 billion, increasing by 5.8% in value terms compared with 2024. This growth was supported by both higher output volumes (+3.1%) and rising prices (+2.6%). Agricultural value added grew even more significantly (+10.5% compared with 2024), reaching €251.8 billion.

Country-level data show that most of the main agricultural producers recorded increases in output volumes. The strongest growth rates were observed in Romania (+11.3%), Spain (+6.7%), Austria (+5.2%) and Poland (+5.0%). Among the few countries registering declines were Hungary (-2.6%), Portugal (-1.4%), and Greece (-0.2%).

Across the EU27 as a whole, agriculture producer prices increased by 2.6% compared to 2024. The largest increases were recorded in Ireland (+10.4%), Poland (+9.7%), Hungary (+8.2%), Denmark (+4.3%), Austria (+4.2%). Prices decreases were observed in Greece (-2.3%) and Belgium (-1.8%).

Preliminary estimates indicate that intermediate consumption in the EU27 increased by 2.3% in value terms for 2025, while volumed increased by 2.2%. Among the major agriculture producers, increases above the EU average were recorded in Romania (+11.8%), Greece (+5.8%), Spain (+4.8%), Austria (+3.9%), Poland and Hungary (+3.0% in both). In Italy, the increase (+1.7%) was below the EU average. Input prices remained broadly stable across the EU27 (+0.2%), although significant differences emerged among countries. The strongest increases were recorded in Belgium and Hungary (+3.5% in both), Spain (+3.1%), the Netherlands (+2.6%), Austria (+2.1%), and Poland (+2.0%). By contrast, declines were observed in Germany (-4.5%), Portugal (-1.5%), Greece (-0.9%), France (-0.8%), and Ireland (-0.7%). In Italy, input prices increased by 0.8%, exceeding the EU average. The share of intermediate consumption in agriculture output decline to 55.2% in the EU27, compared with 57.1% in 2024. This ratio remained particularly high in Denmark, Belgium, France, Hungary and the Netherlands, while remaining significantly below the EU average in Italy and Spain.

Agricultural income indicator A, which measures agricultural labor productivity, increased by 9.2% in the EU27 in 2025, indicating an improvement in the sector’s average profitability. The largest increases were observed in Romania (+28.5%), Poland (+27.8%), Denmark (+22.9%), Ireland (+22.6%), Austria (+18.4%), France (+11.1%), Italy (+6.6%) and Hungary (+5.8%). Among the few counties reporting negative developments, the most significant were observed in Greece (-9.7%) and Portugal (-4.5%).

EU27: crop output volumes increase, livestock prices surge

In the EU27, crop output grew by 5.7% in volume terms in 2025. Particularly strong growth was recorded for cereal, whose output volumes increased by 13.9%. This increase more than offset the decline in prices (-4.3%), resulting in a 9.1% increase in output at current prices. Similar patterns were observed for potatoes and olive oil. Potato production, within the broader context of increasing vegetable output volumes (+2.0%), recorded a sharp increase in volumes (+14.9%), accompanied, however, by a drastic drop in prices (-24.2%), which resulted in a 12.9% reduction in output at current prices. Olive oil production also increased exceptionally (+37.2%), but the simultaneous drop in prices (-35.9%) resulted in a decline in output at current prices value of 12.0%. Fruit production recorded an increase of 8.8% in value terms, supported by higher prices (+9.7%), despite a slight reduction in output volumes (-0.8%).

Unlike crops output, growth in the livestock sector was primarily driven by prices. Livestock stock volumes increased only marginally (+0.7%), while prices rose substantially (+9.2%). The bovine meat sector is a prime example: despite a decline in output volumes (-2.6%), soaring prices (+27.7%) led to an 24.4% increase in output value. Pig meat was the only livestock category moving in the opposite direction: despite an increase in output volumes (+2.9%), lower prices (-7.0%) offset these gains, resulting in a decline in output value of 4.3%.

Agriculture support activities showed a 3.3% increase in output at current prices, driven almost exclusively by higher prices (+2.7%), with a slight increase in output volumes (+0.6%). Secondary activities, on the other hand, showed a decline in volumes (-1.5%), which was more than compensated by an increase in prices (+2.4%), with an overall increase in output value of 0.9%.

Agricultural producer prices increased overall in the EU27 during 2025, although trends differed significantly across sectors. Within crop output, average prices decline by 2.5%, following the decrease already recorded in 2024 (-3.6%). The sharpest price decline were observed for olive oil, potatoes, cereals, industrial plants, and wine. Meanwhile, price increases were recorded for fruit, fodder, and horticulture increased. Within livestock sector prices increased by 9.2%, with particularly strong rises for bovine and poultry meat, and derived livestock products.

Intermediate consumption by 2.2% in volume terms across the EU27, while prices remained essentially stable (+0.2%). The strongest increases in volume were observed in Romania (+12.2%), Germany (+9.2%), Greece (+6.7%), and Ireland (+3.2%). Declines were observed in Belgium (-2.3%), the Netherlands (-1.1%), France (-0.7%), and Hungary (-0.6%). Input prices increased in most of all Member states, with particularly sharp increases in Spain, Belgium, Hungary, and Austria, while they decreased in Germany, Poland, Portugal, and Ireland.

Italy maintains its leadership in agricultural value added within the EU

In 2025, the value of agricultural output in the EU27 reached €562.5 billion, an increase of 5.8% compared to €531.7 billion in 2024. Growth affected almost all major member countries. The most significant increases in output at current prices were observed in Romania (+15.6%), Poland (+15.2%), Ireland (+12.2%), Austria (+9.7%), Denmark (+8.3%), and Spain (+7.5%). Greece was the only country to record a decline in output at current prices (-2.5%).

France confirmed its position as Europe’s leading agricultural producer, with agricultural output valued at €90.8 billion (accounting for 16.1% of total EU27 agriculture output). Germany ranked second with €78.7 billion (14.0% of the EU27 total). Spain followed with €73.9 billion (13.1%), narrowly ahead of Italy, which came in fourth position with €73.6 billion (13.1%). Poland (€45.5 billion; 8.1%), the Netherlands (€42.1 billion; 7.5%), and Romania (€23.4 billion; 4.2%) followed. Together, these seven countries accounted for 76.1% of the total EU27 agricultural output estimated for 2025.

Agricultural value added in the EU27 increased by 10.5% in 2025 compared to 2024, rising from €227.9 billion to €251.8 billion. This increase reflected a growth in the agricultural output at current prices (+5.8%) that exceed the increase in intermediate consumption (+2.3%). With agriculture value added amounting to €42.5 billion, corresponding to 16.9% of the total EU27 value added, Italy confirmed its European leadership in 2025. Spain followed with €41.5 billion (16.5% of the EU27 total), France with €34.4 billion (13.7%), and Germany with €32.4 billion (12.9%).