EU farm workforce shrinks as agriculture share falls sharply

The share of workers employed in agriculture across the European Union fell from 5.2 per cent in 2013 to 3.9 per cent in 2023, reflecting a decade-long decline in farm employment.

This trend is highlighted in the latest edition of ‘Key figures on the European food chain 2025’, published by Eurostat this week.

The publication traces the journey of food from farm to fork, using the most recent data available on the European food system.

It provides a comprehensive overview of the entire food chain, covering production, processing, distribution, international trade, consumption and environmental concerns.

A central focus of the findings is the people who produce food, particularly the agricultural workforce across the European Union.

According to Eurostat, 8.4 million people were employed in the EU agricultural sector in 2023, including hunting and related service activities.

As the number of farms declined over the period, agricultural employment also fell, leading to a reduced share of agriculture in the overall EU workforce.

Eurostat said these developments were often driven by labour-saving technologies such as mechanisation, automation and other modern innovations.

The data show that the share of total employment accounted for by agriculture declined in every EU country between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2023.

The largest decrease was recorded in Romania, where the agricultural employment share dropped by 8.9 percentage points.

Significant reductions were also observed in Croatia and Portugal, with both countries recording declines of 4.7 percentage points over the same period.