Accredited official statistics

Chapter 4: Accounts

Updated 22 July 2024

There may be small discrepancies between numbers presented in this chapter and those in Chapter 7: Crops and Chapter 8: Livestock due to slight differences in the application of these statistics and therefore in calculation methodology.

Summary

In this section, all values are provided in current prices which is considered the most intuitive approach for comparisons over a short time period. It should be noted that these values have not been adjusted for inflation, which was unusually high in 2023 at 7.1%.

Key results for 2023:

• UK Total Income from Farming (TIFF) in 2023 was £7.2 billion, a decrease of £0.8 billion (-9.8%) from 2022. Following historically high commodity prices in 2022, driven by global events, there were reductions in the commodity prices of key crops and livestock outputs. This, coupled with a poor harvest in many crop items, was not offset by a reduction in the value of inputs resulting in a substantial reduction in TIFF.

• Total livestock output in 2023 was £19.2 billion, a decrease of £0.1 billion (-0.7%) from 2022. This decrease was driven by a fall in the value of milk (-10%) and sheep for meat (-2.7%). Milk farmgate prices have fallen in 2023 after the historical highs of 2022, driven by an increase in supply in the first half of 2023 and weaker demand.

• In 2023, total crop output decreased by £1.3 billion (-9.7%) from 2022, to £12.0 billion. This decrease was driven by a substantial fall in the values of wheat and barley (-28% and -26% respectively) as well as oilseed rape (-45%). The unit prices of these three crops decreased in 2023 from the historically high prices seen in 2022.

• Intermediate consumption decreased by £0.6 billion (-2.8%) from 2022, to £21.1 billion in 2023. This decrease was primarily driven by a 28% decrease in the value of fertilisers.

• In 2023, agriculture’s contribution to the UK economy (Gross Value Added at basic prices) was £13.7 billion (0.6% of GVA). This constitutes a decrease of £0.6 billion (-4.5%) in GVA compared to 2022.

Introduction

This chapter shows production and income accounts for agriculture in the United Kingdom.

These accounts conform to internationally agreed accounting principles required by the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics.

Total Income from Farming (TIFF) is the total profit from all UK farming businesses on a calendar year basis. It measures the return to all agricultural entrepreneurs for their management, inputs, labour and capital invested. For differences between TIFF and Farm Business Income statistics presented in Chapter 3, see Table 3.3.

When comparing more recent years, values are presented at current prices (not adjusted for inflation). For long term trends in TIFF, values are presented in real terms. This means the figures have been adjusted to account for inflation, which allows more meaningful comparisons between years over the longer term.

TIFF in recent years

In this section, all values are provided in current prices which is considered the most intuitive approach for comparisons over a short time period. It should be noted that these values have not been adjusted for inflation, which was unusually high in 2023 at 7.1%.

Figure 4.1: Total Income from Farming for the United Kingdom: 2018 to 2023 at current prices (£ billion)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Text description of Figure 4.1: Figure 4.1 shows the value of TIFF from 2018 to 2023 at current prices. TIFF is presented in billions.

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Figure 4.1 shows the value of TIFF from 2018 to 2023 at current prices. Since 2018, the average value of TIFF has been £6.2 billion, with the lowest value of £4.8 billion occurring in 2018, and the highest value of £8.0 billion occurring in 2022. TIFF in 2023 was the second highest in this period, in current prices, at £7.2 billion, though this was a fall of 9.8% from 2022.

Outputs and subsidies

In this section, all values are provided in current prices which is considered the most intuitive approach for comparisons over a short time period. It should be noted that these values have not been adjusted for inflation, which was unusually high in 2023 at 7.1%.

Overview

Figure 4.2: Summary of outputs and subsidies, 2018 to 2023 (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Notes:

1. To improve clarity, the item ‘Inseparable non-agricultural activities’ has been renamed ‘Diversification’ from this release onwards.

Text description of Figure 4.2: Figure 4.2 shows the value of all outputs and subsidies from 2018 to 2023. Values are presented in millions. Outputs and subsidies represent all financial incomes to farmers. Total livestock output is consistently the largest contributor to the value of all outputs and subsidies.

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Figure 4.2 shows the value of all outputs and subsidies from 2018 to 2023. Outputs and subsidies represent all financial incomes to farmers. Total livestock output is consistently the largest contributor to the value of all outputs and subsidies. In 2023, total livestock output was £19,229 million, a decrease of £136 million (-0.7%) on 2022. The second largest contribution to the value of outputs and subsidies in 2023 was total crop output at £11,990 million, a decrease of £1,295 million (-9.7%) on 2022. The remaining incomes to farmers in 2023 were subsidies (£2,953 million), diversification (£1,863 million) and other agricultural activities (£1,637 million).

Total livestock output

Figure 4.3: Main contributions to total livestock output (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	2022	2023
Milk	6,659	5,983
Beef	3,750	3,908
Poultry	3,168	3,542
Pigmeat	1,730	1,838
Mutton and lamb	1,627	1,582
Livestock gross fixed capital formation	1,490	1,219
Eggs	774	1,003

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Despite also having the largest decrease of any livestock item, the largest contribution to total livestock output in 2023 was milk with a value of £5,983 million. The average UK farmgate milk price reached a historic high of 51.6 pence per litre in December 2022. From January 2023, prices started to fall before stabilising from May 2023 onwards. Prices fell at the start of the year due to an increase in supply in the spring flush, a fall in the price of key inputs and weaker demand. Production started to decrease from the early summer, with overall production in 2023 comparable to 2022.

In 2023, the largest value increase in total livestock output was poultry with an increase of £374 million (12%) on 2022. The overall value of poultry meat production in 2023 was £3.5 billion, driven by an increase of 16% in the value of table chickens. This was a result of price increases for poultry, with prices for table chickens rising by 15%. Overall, home-fed poultry meat production decreased by 0.8%, despite a 0.5% increase in table chicken meat production.

The value of egg production in 2023 was £1,003 million, an increase of £229 million (30%) from 2022. This is largely as a result of the continued industry trend towards producing more free range eggs, which are priced higher than enriched eggs. Overall, egg prices increased by 41% from 2022 to 117 pence per dozen.

Total crop output

Figure 4.4: Main contributions to total crop output (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	2022	2023
Wheat	4,062	2,912
Fresh vegetables	1,692	1,860
Plants and flowers	1,538	1,686
Barley	1,818	1,351
Fruit	1,018	1,039
Potatoes	768	1,005
Other crop products	602	589
Other industrial crops	435	578
Oilseed rape	878	483
Forage plants	200	263

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Despite also having the largest value decrease (£1,150 million) and the second largest percentage decrease (-28%) of any output account item, the largest contribution to total crop output in 2023 was wheat with a value of £2,912 million. Harvested wheat production decreased by 11% from 2022, as a result of a decline in both the area planted (5.1%) and the yield. Easing of prices throughout 2023 from the historically high prices of 2022 also contributed to the decline in the value, with breadmaking wheat and feed wheat prices down by 13% and 22% respectively. The weather throughout the year also led to variable wheat quality, reducing the percentage of homegrown wheat that could be sold at the highest price category.

The largest value increase in a crop item was in potatoes, which increased from £768 million in 2022 to £1,005 million in 2023, an increase of £237 million (31%). This increase was driven by price, which was 41% higher than in 2022, and more than offset a substantial decrease in the volume of production.

2023 was an unfavourable year for cereal crops and oilseed rape. Poor weather reduced yields and impacted quality, and there were large reductions in commodity prices from 2022 following global market trends. This meant that values decreased substantially, with barley and oilseed rape values falling by 26% and 45% respectively.

Other Outputs and Subsidies

Table 4.1: Breakdown of other incomes and subsidies (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	2022	2023
Subsidies not linked to production	2,920	2,905
Diversification	1,764	1,863
Other agricultural activities	1,560	1,637
Subsidies linked to production	48	48

Notes:

1. ‘Subsidies not linked to production’ includes subsidies not directly linked to production, including the Basic Payment Scheme and Agri-environment schemes, including the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and Sustainable Farming Incentive.

2. For a full breakdown of subsidies see Chapter 10: Public Payments. Please note there may be small differences between the ‘Subsidies not linked to production’ in Table 4.1 and ‘Decoupled and other payments’ in Table 10.1 and Table 10.2 due to the inclusion of one-off payments in the latter.

3. To improve clarity, the item ‘Inseparable non-agricultural activities’ has been renamed ‘Diversification’ from this release onwards

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The value of subsidies not linked to production decreased by 15.5 million (-0.5%) from 2022. This decrease was driven by a 12% decline in the value of Basic Payment Scheme payments but partially offset by an 81% increase in the value of Agri-environment scheme payments.

Inputs and costs

In this section, all values are provided in current prices which is considered the most intuitive approach for comparisons over a short time period. It should be noted that these values have not been adjusted for inflation, which was unusually high in 2023 at 7.1%.

Overview

Figure 4.5: Summary of inputs and costs, 2018 to 2023 (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Text description of Figure 4.5: Figure 4.5 shows the make-up of all inputs and costs from 2018 to 2023. Inputs and costs represent all money paid out by farmers during a calendar year. Values are presented in millions.

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Figure 4.5 shows the make-up of all inputs and costs from 2018 to 2023. Inputs and costs represent all money paid out by farmers during a calendar year. The make-up of all inputs and costs has been remarkably constant for the last 6 years. The largest cost facing farmers is intermediate consumption. In 2023 the value of intermediate consumption was £21,086 million, a decrease of £605 million (-2.8%) on 2022. The remaining costs in 2023 were total consumption of fixed capital (£5,140 million), compensation of employees (£3,020 million) and other costs (£1,194 million).

Inputs: Intermediate consumption

Intermediate consumption represents items that are used up during the production of farm outputs. The accounts are set up in a way to provide a picture of the agriculture industry in an annual year in terms of money spent and money received by farming businesses. For intermediate consumption, we rely on data from the Farm Business Survey on expenditure. However, this data is only available two years in arrears and so our initial estimate each year is based on information from industry experts, which is then replaced with Farm Business Survey data the following year, resulting in revisions to the intermediate consumption estimates.

Figure 4.6: Main contributions to intermediate consumption (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	2022	2023
Animal feed: compounds	5,014	4,772
Other goods and services	3,475	3,603
Total maintenance	2,058	2,197
Animal feed: straights	2,035	1,853
Agricultural services	1,560	1,637
Fertilisers	1,903	1,362
Animal feed: other	1,170	1,195
Motor and machinery fuels	1,249	1,123
Plant protection products	966	1,048
Seeds	916	881
Electricity and fuels for heating	680	790
Veterinary expenses	498	510

Notes:

1. ‘Animal feed: other’ represents feed produced and used on farm or purchased from other farms.

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The largest contribution to intermediate consumption was compound animal feed with a value of £4,772 million, a decrease of £242 million (-4.8%) from 2022. Total compound feed production decreased by 3.6% from 2022 with decreases across cattle, pigs, sheep and poultry. Compound feed production for calves showed a small increase of 1.3%. The pig and poultry sectors have encountered problems over the last few years due to a combination of high feed and energy costs, butchery capacity and disease risks.

The value of fertiliser in 2023 was £1,362 million, a decrease of £541 million (-28%) from 2022. The prices of nitrogenous, phosphatic and potassic straight fertilisers all decreased in line with oil prices, by 41%, 36% and 26% respectively. These price decreases encouraged farmers to apply more fertiliser, resulting in a volume increase that slightly off-set the price reductions.

Overall there was a mixture of increases and decreases across intermediate consumption, with the increases in value largely driven by inflation. The items that decreased in value did so because of their reliance on oil, the price of which fell after the markets stabilised following the initial market shock of the conflict in Ukraine.

Other Inputs and Costs

Table 4.2: Breakdown of other inputs and costs (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	2022	2023
Total consumption of fixed capital	5,120	5,140
Equipment consumption of fixed capital	2,417	2,531
Livestock consumption of fixed capital	1,487	1,347
Buildings consumption of fixed capital	1,216	1,262
Other taxes on production	96	96
Compensation of employees	3,022	3,020
Rent	539	587
Interest	455	510

Notes:

1. There has been a revision in the value of Compensation of employees for 2021 and 2022. See Revisions for details.

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Long Term Trends in TIFF

Values in this section are expressed in real terms at 2023 prices. The figures have been adjusted to account for inflation, which allows more meaningful comparisons between years over the longer term. However it should be noted that inflation was unusually high in 2023 at 7.1%.

Figure 4.7: Long term trends in TIFF, 2000 to 2023 (£ billion)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Text description of Figure 4.7: Figure 4.7 shows the long term trend in TIFF from 2000 to 2023. TIFF is presented in millions.

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Table 4.3: Headline figures in real terms 2018 to 2023 (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total crop output	11,495	11,947	10,207	12,383	14,230	11,990
Total livestock output	17,562	17,140	17,049	18,577	20,743	19,229
Total intermediate consumption	20,591	20,323	18,935	20,932	23,234	21,086
Total income from farming	5,810	6,084	5,763	7,531	8,589	7,232

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In real terms, UK TIFF rose strongly between 2000 and 2008, then remained around the £5 billion to £7 billion range, with some large year-on-year fluctuations, up to 2014.

TIFF fell sharply in 2015 driven by lower commodity prices and a stronger pound. In 2016, the exchange rate improved but a poor harvest and continued low commodity prices kept income low. In 2017, TIFF reached the highest point for 20 years as a result of a favourable combination of a weaker pound, strong commodity prices and high levels of production. In 2018, extreme weather conditions led to poor yields and pushed up the price of key inputs. These factors were not fully offset by strong commodity prices resulting in a 15% fall in TIFF that year. Favourable weather in 2019 produced modest increases to both crop output and TIFF. In 2020, poor weather during winter sowing resulted in the lowest wheat value, in real terms, since 2006. This was offset by a strong year for livestock and relatively low year for costs, resulting in a modest 5.1% fall in TIFF from 2019.

2021 saw more typical weather than 2020 resulting in a large increase in output values, particularly crops, which outweighed increases in inputs and costs. This, combined with inflation of less than 0.1%, led to the sharp increase (30%) in TIFF seen between 2020 and 2021. 2022 saw the largest value for TIFF, in real terms, since 1995 and the second highest in the last 40 years. This was driven by good yields across most crops and substantial price increases in wheat, barley, oilseed rape and milk, which more than offset the price increases as a result of high oil prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In 2023, TIFF was £7,232 million, a decrease of £1,358 million (-16%) in real terms from 2022. With supplies which had previously been disrupted able to be exported from Ukraine, it was expected that commodity prices would decrease as the global markets eased. While this was seen and has been one of the factors, the addition of a poor year of weather for cereals meant that the value of production in the UK fell by more than expected leading to the overall decrease seen in TIFF.

Balance Sheet for the United Kingdom Agricultural Industry

Table 4.4: Balance sheet (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total fixed assets	286,163	331,267	332,943	373,337
Total current assets	16,328	18,370	19,090	17,965
Total assets	302,491	349,638	352,033	391,301
Total long and medium term liabilities	15,523	16,393	16,628	16,064
Total short term liabilities	5,466	5,924	6,027	5,773
Total liabilities	20,989	22,317	22,655	21,837
Net worth	281,502	327,321	329,378	369,465

Notes:

1. Balance sheet as at December each year.

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Table 4.4 presents the agricultural balance sheet which values the assets and liabilities for agriculture at the end of each calendar year and estimates the net worth of the industry. Overall net worth is estimated to have been £369,465 million in 2023, an increase of £40,087 million (12%) on 2022. This was the result of an increase in total assets of 11% and a decrease in total liabilities of 3.6%. Land is the largest fixed asset in the agricultural industry with a value of £322,249 million in 2023, an increase of 15% on 2022.

Table 4.5: Balance sheet in real terms (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total assets	333,054	384,602	368,796	391,301
Total liabilities	23,109	24,549	23,734	21,837
Net worth	309,945	360,053	345,062	369,465

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In real terms at 2023 prices, net worth increased by 7.1% from 2022. Total assets increased by 6.1% and total liabilities decreased by 8.0%.

About these statistics

Revisions

Table 4.6: Revisions in total outputs, inputs and TIFF (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	Previous estimate for 2022 (Published May 2023)	Current estimate for 2022 (Published May 2024)	% change (from May 23 to May 24 estimate)
All outputs and subsidies	38,912	38,846	-0.2%
All inputs and costs	30,971	30,827	-0.5%
Total income from farming	7,940	8,019	1.0%

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Table 4.7: Revisions larger than £100 million in outputs 2022 (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	Previous estimate for 2022 (Published May 2023)	Current estimate for 2022 (Published May 2024)	% change (from May 23 to May 24 estimate)
Eggs	640	774	20.9%
Other agricultural activities	1,448	1,560	7.8%
Subsidies not linked to production	3,073	2,920	-5.0%

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There is a revision to the 2022 value of eggs due to additional data becoming available for the 2022 price and production time series after the publication of Total Income from Farming 2022.

‘Other agricultural activities’ is an account item that represents the money received by farmers when they fulfil contracts for other farms particularly around harvest time where not every farmer will have a combine. This item is matched on the inputs and costs side of the account by “agricultural services” as that is the amount paid by farmers to other farmers for the services. This means that although there were revisions to both these items, having received Survey data, they have not had an impact on TIFF as the value has changed on both sides of the account.

Subsidies not linked to production has been revised for 2022 due to calendar year data becoming available for 2022 onwards. Prior to 2022 the data are based on Q4 to Q3 years.

Table 4.8: Revisions larger than £100 million in inputs and costs (£ million)

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374
Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Item	Previous estimate for 2022 (Published May 2023)	Current estimate for 2022 (Published May 2024)	% change (from May 23 to May 24 estimate)
Seeds	748	916	22.5%
Motor and machinery fuels	1,371	1,249	-8.9%
Fertilisers	2,490	1,903	-23.6%
Animal feed: straights	1,926	2,035	5.7%
Agricultural services value	1,448	1,560	7.8%
Compensation of employees	2,828	3,022	6.8%

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The revisions in seeds, motor and machinery fuels and fertilisers are a result of the replacement of industry estimates with survey data, as explained in the intermediate consumption section. Because of the difference between usage and purchase practices when prices are volatile it is particularly difficult to estimate what is being spent by farm businesses in a year.

The value of straight animal feed was also revised due to more data becoming available after the publication of Total Income from Farming in 2022.

Following a review of the methodology in calculating the wage data for compensation of employees, the values for compensation of employees have been revised for 2021 and 2022.

As a result of more data becoming available over time there have also been minor revisions to earlier years in this release. These revisions are intended to enhance the precision of these estimates. Sometimes additional revisions are necessary to refine the methodology or correct historical errors.

Glossary of other Key Terms

• Gross Value Added (GVA) is computed as Gross output minus intermediate consumption and represents that contribution of a business, sector or industry to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

• Basic price is the market price plus directly paid subsidies that are linked to the production of specific products.

• Current price is the value based on prices observed during the reference year (i.e. values not adjusted for inflation). The alternative to current price is ‘real terms’.

• Real terms is where values from previous years have been adjusted for inflation. The alternative to real terms is ‘current price’.

• Intermediate consumption is the goods and services used as inputs in the productive process, e.g. feed, energy and fertilisers.

• Other costs includes other taxes on production, rent and interest paid.