Official Statistics

Agricultural facts: South East (including London) region

Updated 31 October 2024

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agricultural-facts-england-regional-profiles/agricultural-facts-south-east-region

Section 1: Key statistics

Figure 1.1: A map of England with the South East (including London) region highlighted

Source: Office for National Statistics, Open Geography Portal

The South East (including London) region comprises Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent and London.

Key statistics for the South East (including London) region

  • Total Income from Farming[footnote 1] in 2023 was £545 million, a decrease of 32% since 2022 (Source: Total Income from Farming for the regions of England).
  • In 2023, the largest contributors to the output[footnote 2] value (£2.4 billion) were fruits (£362 million), wheat (£338 million), plants and flowers (£192 million) and milk (£185 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 88 hectares (Table 1.1). This is the fourth smallest average farm size of all the English regions and the same as the English average of 88 hectares.
  • The predominant farm types in 2023 were grazing livestock (40% of the region’s holdings) and general cropping (23% of the region’s holdings) farms (Figure 1.4).
  • Across all farm types, average Farm Business Income[footnote 3] was £102,700 per farm in 2022/23, which was an increase of 26% 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
South East (including London) 14% 29% 20% 13% 23% 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
South East (including London) 0.3% 3.7% 7.5% 11% 78% 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 South East (including London) England
Total farmed area (thousand hectares) 1,099 8,999
Average farm size (hectares) 88 88
Rented (% of farmed area) 31% 32%
Arable (% of farmed area) 56% 53%
Permanent pasture (% of farmed area) 30% 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 South East (including London) England South East (including London) as % of England
Wheat 205 1,580 13%
Barley 99 799 12%
Oilseed rape 44 342 13%
Orchards 7.8 19 41%
Small fruit 5.4 10 53%
Glasshouse 0.3 1.1 31%

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 South East (including London) England South East (including London) as % of England
Cattle 349 4,864 7.2%
Dairy herd 51 1,053 4.9%
Beef herd 59 602 9.8%
Pigs 146 3,633 4.0%
Sheep 1,135 14,451 7.9%
Poultry 6,772 130,549 5.2%
Laying flock 2,447 23,007 11%
Table chickens 2,442 91,096 2.7%
Turkeys 69 2,417 2.9%

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
South East (including London) 19% 23% 6.3% 1.9% 40% 6.8% 3.7% 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
South East (including London) 47% 14% 3.7% 4.6% 20% 9.6% 1.1% 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 South East (including London) England
All farm types
(2022/23)		 102,700
(±31,300)		 96,100
(±9,000)
Cereals
(2022/23)		 179,700
(±76,100)		 150,400
(±24,700)
Horticulture
(2022/23)		 81,700
(±78,300)		 95,600
(±59,800)
Grazing livestock
(2022/23)		 20,900
(±10,200)		 22,900
(±4,100)
All farm types
(2021/22)		 81,800
(±18,500)		 86,100
(±6,600)
Cereals
(2021/22)		 116,800
(±38,200)		 120,100
(±16,600)
Horticulture
(2021/22)		 75,400
(±45,300)		 60,600
(±25,500)
Grazing livestock
(2021/22)		 33,500
(±12,700)		 37,100
(±3,500)

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 South East (including London) England South East (including London) as % of England
Total labour 45,592 292,401 16%
Total labour per farm 3.6 2.9 [z]
Regular workers 11,471 64,583 18%
Regular workers per farm 0.9 0.6 [z]
Casual workers 10,868 37,027 29%
Casual workers per farm 0.9 0.4 [z]
% full time 39% 46% [z]
% part time 32% 37% [z]
% casual 24% 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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