Official Statistics

Agricultural facts: East of England region

Updated 31 October 2024

Applies to England

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Section 1: Key statistics

Figure 1.1: A map of England with the East of England region highlighted

Source: Office for National Statistics, Open Geography Portal

The East of England region comprises East Anglia, Essex, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Key statistics for the East of England region

  • Total Income from Farming[footnote 1] in 2023 was £1.0 billion, a decrease of 4.6% since 2022 (Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England).
  • In 2023, the largest contributors to the output[footnote 2] value (£4.4 billion) were poultry (£836 million), wheat (£725 million) and fresh vegetables (£458 million). These commodities accounted for 46% of the output (Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England).
  • The average farm size in 2023 was 127 hectares (Table 1.1). This is the second largest average farm size of all the English regions and larger than the English average of 88 hectares.
  • The predominant farm types in 2023 were cereal (37% of the region’s holdings) and general cropping (26% of the region’s holdings) farms (Figure 1.4). Although pig farms only accounted for 3.7% of the region’s holdings, the region accounted for 28% of the English pig population (Table 1.3).
  • Across all farm types, average Farm Business Income[footnote 3] was £122,200 per farm in 2022/23, which was an increase of 6.9% from 2021/22 (Figure 1.6).

Figure 1.2: Distribution of farms by size in 2023 (percentage of farm holdings)

Region <5 ha 5<20 ha 20<50 ha 50<100 ha ≥100 ha Total
East of England 13% 21% 16% 16% 34% 100%
England 13% 26% 20% 17% 24% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. “ha” means “hectares”

  2. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Figure 1.3: Distribution of farms by size in 2023 (percentage of farmed area)

Region <5 ha 5<20 ha 20<50 ha 50<100 ha ≥100 ha Total
East of England 0.2% 1.8% 4.3% 9.1% 85% 100%
England 0.3% 3.3% 7.7% 14% 75% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. “ha” means “hectares”

  2. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Table 1.1: Land use in 2023

Measure East of England England
Total farmed area (thousand hectares) 1,397 8,999
Average farm size (hectares) 127 88
Rented (% of farmed area) 28% 32%
Arable (% of farmed area) 79% 53%
Permanent pasture (% of farmed area) 12% 34%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Arable includes arable crops, uncropped arable land and temporary grass.

  2. Rented land must be rented for at least one year.

Table 1.2: Crop areas in 2023 (thousand hectares)

Crop East of England England East of England as % of England
Wheat 441 1,580 28%
Barley 194 799 24%
Oilseed rape 62 342 18%
Sugar beet 63 99 64%
Potatoes 27 82 33%
Field veg 23 77 29%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Crops displayed are those more predominant in the area.

  2. Further data notes on crops can be found below the relevant tables in the statistical dataset for England’s regional breakdown of the structure of the agricultural industry at June.

Table 1.3: Livestock numbers in 2023 (thousand head)

Livestock East of England England East of England as % of England
Cattle 170 4,864 3.5%
Dairy herd 13 1,053 1.3%
Beef herd 37 602 6.1%
Pigs 1,021 3,633 28%
Sheep 345 14,451 2.4%
Poultry 30,970 130,549 24%
Laying flock 2,054 23,007 8.9%
Table chickens 24,499 91,096 27%
Turkeys 945 2,417 39%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Livestock displayed are those more predominant in the area.

  2. Cattle numbers relate to commercial holdings only.

  3. Sheep numbers include lambs.

Figure 1.4: Distribution of farms by type in 2023 (percentage of farm holdings)

Region Cereals General cropping Horticulture Dairy Grazing livestock Mixed Pigs, Poultry & Other Total
East of England 37% 26% 4.7% 0.5% 18% 4.9% 9.1% 100%
England 17% 21% 3.7% 5.0% 41% 7.0% 4.9% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

  2. “Other” refers to unclassified farm types.

Figure 1.5: Distribution of farms by type in 2023 (percentage of farmed area)

Region Cereals General cropping Horticulture Dairy Grazing livestock Mixed Pigs, Poultry & Other Total
East of England 53% 31% 1.9% 0.8% 5.7% 4.7% 2.3% 100%
England 34% 17% 1.9% 8.3% 28% 9.2% 1.9% 100%

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. Proportions may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

  2. “Other” refers to unclassified farm types.

Figure 1.6: Average Farm Business Income in 2021/22 and 2022/23 (£ per farm)

Farm type East of England England
All farm types
(2022/23)		 122,200
(±34,700)		 96,100
(±9,000)
Cereals
(2022/23)		 126,900
(±48,300)		 150,400
(±24,700)
General cropping
(2022/23)		 177,100
(±88,500)		 125,200
(±35,900)
All farm types
(2021/22)		 114,400
(±27,900)		 86,100
(±6,600)
Cereals
(2021/22)		 122,700
(±50,600)		 120,100
(±16,600)
General cropping
(2021/22)		 150,400
(±62,300)		 145,400
(±31,500)

Source: Defra, Farm Business Survey (regional breakdown not published elsewhere)

Notes:

  1. The Farm Business Survey year runs from March to February.

  2. Excludes farms with less than 25,000 euros of standard output.

  3. Farm types displayed are those more predominant in the area.

  4. Lines or values in parentheses indicate the 95% confidence intervals.

  5. Values are rounded to the nearest £100

Table 1.4: Labour force in 2023 (number of people)

Measure East of England England East of England as % of England
Total labour 36,116 292,401 12%
Total labour per farm 3.3 2.9 [z]
Regular workers 10,053 64,583 16%
Regular workers per farm 0.9 0.6 [z]
Casual workers 5,097 37,027 14%
Casual workers per farm 0.5 0.4 [z]
% full time 46% 46% [z]
% part time 33% 37% [z]
% casual 14% 13% [z]

Source: Defra, June Survey

Notes:

  1. “[z]” means “not applicable”

  2. Total labour includes farmers, partners, directors, spouses, salaried managers, regular and casual workers.

  3. Casual workers are those usually employed for less than 20 weeks of the year.

  4. Number of workers per farm calculations are averages based on the total number of farm holdings in the region.

  5. Part time workers are those employed for less than 39 hours a week.

  6. Percentage calculations for full and part time workers do not include salaried managers.

Section 2: Data notes

Figures are for commercial holdings as at June 2023 (unless stated otherwise). Commercial holdings are those with levels of farming activity above a specified threshold as detailed in this publication’s guidance note. For further information about the June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture please visit our survey notes and guidance page on GOV.UK.

“Region” in this statistical notice refers to International Territorial Level 1 (ITL1) for England. The ITL1 regions for Greater London and the South East have been combined in this statistical notice due to the fact that London has such a small farming infrastructure.

Section 3: Other geographical breakdowns

Defra June Survey data aggregated at other geographical classifications can be found in the Structure of the agricultural industry in England and the UK at June statistical data set on GOV.UK.

England regional data for aggregate agricultural accounts (including data at ITL2 and ITL3) can be found in the Total Income from Farming for the regions of England publication on GOV.UK.

English county data for farm accounts from the Farm Business Survey can be found on the Farm Business Survey web page.

Section 4: Contact details

Responsible statistician: Thomas Pearson

Team: Farming Statistics - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Email: AUK_stats_team@defra.gov.uk

For media queries between 9am and 5pm on weekdays:

Telephone: 0330 041 6560

Email: newsdesk@defra.gov.uk

  1. Total Income from Farming (TIFF) is the net income to farms once costs have been accounted for, so is calculated as “outputs & subsidies” minus “inputs & costs”. More information on aggregate agricultural accounts can be found on GOV.UK. ↩

  2. Output is the total value (at market prices) of commodities produced without considering production costs or any additional income received through subsidies. More information on aggregate agricultural accounts can be found on GOV.UK. ↩

  3. In simple terms, Farm Business Income (FBI) is the output generated by the farm business minus total farm costs. More information on Farm Business Income can be found on GOV.UK. ↩

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