Official Statistics

Total Income from Farming in the regions of England in 2023

Updated 10 October 2024

Applies to England

This publication contains the summary of the farm accounts in the regions of England for 2023 and addresses trends for the ITL1 regions. More detailed data sets have been published alongside this release, with breakdowns at ITL1, ITL2 and ITL3 level. More information about ITLs (International Territorial Levels) can be found here.

This publication is primarily intended to provide a comparison of the England regions only. Definitive TIFF values for England should be taken from Total income from farming in England.

Total Income from Farming (TIFF) is the income to those who own businesses within the agricultural industry. It is the total profit from all UK farming businesses on a calendar year basis. It measures the return to all entrepreneurs for their management, inputs, labour and capital invested. The term ‘income’ used throughout this notice refers to TIFF.

Section 1: Key messages

• TIFF in England in 2023 decreased in all 8 of the ITL1 regions, with an average decrease of 21%.

• The two largest contributors to England TIFF, at ITL1 level, were the East of England (23%) and the South West (18%).

• The two ITL1 regions with the lowest contribution to TIFF in England in 2023 were the North East (3%) and the North West (6%).

Figure 1.1: TIFF in the latest 2 years in each ITL1 region of England (£ million)

ITL1 region name	2022	2023
East of England	1084	1033
East Midlands	929	835
South West	924	631
Yorkshire and The Humber	614	551
London and the South East	806	545
West Midlands	647	527
North West	356	268
North East	247	151

Notes:

1. The ITL1 regions for Greater London and the South East have been combined due to the fact that London has such a small farming infrastructure.

• The highest TIFF in the ITL1 regions in 2023 came from the East of England, which contributed £1,033 million, a decrease of £50 million from 2022. The East of England had the highest TIFF of the regions in 8 of the last 10 years, and the second highest in the remaining 2 years (2014 and 2017).

• The lowest overall TIFF was from the North East, contributing £151 million. The North East has had the lowest TIFF of the regions each year for the last 10 years.

• The largest change in the value of TIFF from 2022 was in the South West, where TIFF decreased by £293 million (-32%) to £631 million.

Figure 1.2: TIFF per hectare of agricultural land in the latest 2 years in each ITL1 region of England (£/ha)

ITL1 region name	2022	2023
East of England	775	739
East Midlands	771	693
West Midlands	693	564
Yorkshire and The Humber	550	494
London and the South East	706	478
South West	515	351
North West	378	284
North East	409	250

Download ‘Total Income from Farming in the regions of England at ITL1 per hectare’ (ODS, 14KB)

Notes:

1. Data for hectares of agricultural land is taken from June Survey H10 “Total area on agricultural holdings” (Total croppable area + total permanent grassland + other land on agricultural holdings).

• The highest TIFF per hectare in England in 2023 was in the East of England, which had a TIFF per hectare of £739. This is a decrease of £36 per hectare (-5%) from 2022.

• The biggest differences between absolute TIFF and TIFF per hectare were for the South West and the West Midlands. The South West had the 3rd highest TIFF of any of the ITL1 regions of England but had only the 6th highest TIFF per hectare. The West Midlands was the inverse of the South West with the 6th highest TIFF and the 3rd highest TIFF per hectare.

Section 2: Outputs and subsidies

Below is a summary of the key points regarding outputs and subsidies at ITL1 level. Any comparison made here between current and past years is made using current prices data as this is widely considered to be the most intuitive and helpful for year on year change.

2.1 Overview

Figure 2.1 Outputs and subsidies from each ITL1 region of England in 2023 split by percentage

Notes:

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

Figure 2.1 shows the percentage breakdown of the outputs from the agricultural industry between crops, livestock, subsidies less tax, other agricultural activities and diversification. Total livestock output was the largest output of 5 of the 8 ITL1 regions with total crop output being the highest in the other 3. Subsidies less tax made up between 5% (West Midlands) and 12% (North East) of total outputs for the ITL1 regions.

Download ‘Total Income from Farming in the regions of England at ITL1’ (ODS, 135KB)

2.2 Crops

Figure 2.2 Top 3 ITL1 regions in England for total crop output from 2018 to 2023 (£ million)

Year	East Midlands	East of England	London and the South East
2023	2,159	2,451	1,353
2022	2,267	2,774	1,626
2021	1,874	2,359	1,319
2020	1,397	1,875	1,096
2019	1,641	2,127	1,199
2018	1,564	1,877	1,143

• The East of England has had the largest total crop output value of the England ITL1 regions for the past 6 years. In 2023 it had a total crop output of £2,451 million, which was a decrease of £323 million (-12%) from 2022.

• The East Midlands has, for the past 6 years, had the second highest crop output value of the ITL1 regions of England, with a crop output of £2,159 million in 2023.

• The 3 regions shown in the table (the East of England, the East Midlands and London and the South East) have together contributed, on average, 58% of the total crop output value in England in the past 6 years.

Download ‘Total Income from Farming in the regions of England at ITL1’ (ODS, 135KB)

2.3 Livestock

Figure 2.3 Top 3 ITL1 regions in England for total livestock output from 2018 to 2023 (£ million)

Year	North West	West Midlands	South West
2023	1,907	1,777	3,028
2022	1,976	1,776	3,143
2021	1,634	1,552	2,605
2020	1,474	1,386	2,442
2019	1,411	1,315	2,394
2018	1,370	1,270	2,389

• The South West has had the largest total livestock output value of the England ITL1 regions for the past 6 years. In 2023 it had a total livestock output of £3,028 million, which was a decrease of £115 million (-4%) from 2022. This decrease was mainly driven by a £138 million (-9%) decrease in the value of milk.

• The North West has, for the past 6 years, had the second highest livestock output value of the ITL1 regions of England, with a livestock output of £1,907 million in 2023, 3% (£69 million) less than in 2022.

• The 3 regions shown in the table (the South West, the North West and the West Midlands) have together contributed, on average, 54% of the total livestock output value in England in the past 6 years.

Download ‘Total Income from Farming in the regions of England at ITL1’ (ODS, 135KB)

2.4 Other outputs and subsidies

Other outputs and subsidies includes all non-agricultural activities (diversified outcome i.e. rental of holiday cottages on farm), secondary activities (e.g.contract work to provide a combine for other farmers) and subsidies (payments received to subsidise farms generally or on specific products).

Figure 2.4 Other outputs and subsidies from each of the ITL1 regions of England in 2022 and 2023 (£ million)

ITL1 Name	2022	2023
South West	812	831
East of England	706	724
East Midlands	586	600
Yorkshire and The Humber	514	544
London and the South East	513	524
West Midlands	465	477
North West	386	392
North East	223	224

Section 3: Inputs and costs

3.1 Overview

Figure 3.1 Inputs and costs from each ITL1 region of England in 2023 split by percentage

Figure 3.1 shows the percentage breakdown of the costs from the agricultural industry in 2023. Intermediate consumption is the largest cost across all of the England ITL1 regions, followed by total fixed capital consumption, compensation of employees, then rent and other costs. Intermediate consumption made up between 66% (London and the South East) and 71% (Yorkshire and the Humber) of total costs, and compensation of employees made up between 9% (North East) and 14% (London and the South East) in the ITL1 regions of England.

Download ‘Total Income from Farming in the regions of England at ITL1’ (ODS, 135KB)

Section 4: Individual Region Breakdowns

More detailed breakdowns for each ITL1 region can be found at the links below:

• TLC - The North East

• TLD - The North West

• TLE - Yorkshire and The Humber

• TLF - The East Midlands

• TLG - The West Midlands

• TLH - The East of England

• TLIJ - London and the South East

• TLK - The South West

Section 5 - About these statistics

5.1 Contact details

Alexandra Hall

farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Telephone: 020 7714 1374

Media enquiries: 0330 041 6560

Public enquiries: 03459 33 55 77

Kings Pool,

1–2 Peasholme Green,

York,

YO1 7PX

5.2 Methodology

TIFF refers to income generated by production within the agricultural industry, including subsidies. TIFF represents business profits and remuneration for work done by owners and other unpaid workers. It excludes changes in the values of assets and stocks due to price changes, but includes non-agricultural activities such as further processing or tourist activities where these cannot be separated from the agricultural business. TIFF is the preferred measure of aggregate income for the agricultural industry, conforming to internationally agreed national accounting principles required by the UK National Accounts.

The regional accounts for England are constructed by apportioning each account item value (£) for England to the 133 ITL3 territories (County/unitary authorities) using coefficients derived mostly from Farm Business Survey (FBS) and June Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture (‘June Survey’) data. The FBS records detailed annual account data from a relatively small panel of farms whereas the June Survey records a snapshot of crop areas and livestock numbers as at June 1st each year. ITL1 (regional) and ITL2 estimates are then derived through aggregation of ITL3 account values. Latest account information for England can be found at England: Total Income from Farming statistics.

The England level estimates used as a starting point for the estimates in this release were published by Defra on 11 July 2024.

5.3 Revisions

Revisions are intended to increase the precision of the estimates and are routinely the result of more data becoming available over time. Sometimes additional revisions are necessary to refine the methodology or correct historical errors.

TIFF is the relatively small difference between two large numbers and is therefore sensitive to small percentage changes in the values of Outputs and Intermediate Consumption. A combination of a revision downwards in Output and revision upwards in Intermediate Consumption leads to more sizeable revisions in percentage terms to GVA and TIFF.

The estimate for TIFF in England in 2022, published in July 2023, has been revised. Please see TIFF in England in 2023 release for further details.

Further information regarding revisions can be found on the webpage for Defra’s policy statement on revisions and correction.

5.4 Official Statistics

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You can read about how Official Statistics in Defra comply with these standards on the Defra Statistics website.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards using the contact details above. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

5.5 Quality assurance

DEFRA has in place quality assurance processes to check the accuracy and reliability of the aggregate agricultural accounts that include:

• Ongoing review of methods employed in the calculation of the accounts.

• Assessment of the quality of the estimates of the accounts with experts within DEFRA.

• Discussion of the accounts with external experts.

5.6 Development areas

DEFRA statisticians carry out a continuous review of methods employed in making estimates of the production and income accounts. This may lead to revisions to data series owing to improvements in methods, in addition to the use of more up-to-date information.

5.7 Main users and uses of these statistics

The aggregate agricultural accounts are used both within government and by the wider agricultural industry in conjunction with other economic information to:

• Monitor the productivity and competitiveness of the farming industry.

• Inform policy decisions and to help monitor and evaluate current policies relating to agriculture in the UK by Government.

• Inform stakeholders of the performance of the agricultural industry.

• Inform research into the economic performance of the agricultural industry.

5.8 User engagement

As stated at the start of this release, part of our ongoing commitment to compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics, is to strengthen our engagement with users of these statistics and better understand the use made of them as well as the types of decisions that they inform. Thus, we invite users to make themselves known, to advise us of the use they do, or might, make use of these statistics, and what their wishes are in terms of engagement. Feedback on this notice and enquiries about these statistics are also welcomed. Please complete this feedback form to tell us how you use this statistical notice.

If you have any other feedback you wish to provide, please get in contact using the details provided in the ‘What you need to know about his release’ section.

5.9 Future publications

These estimates for 2023 will be subject to minor (unless otherwise specified) revisions in future publications of TIFF in the regions of England where the availability of additional data and revised data will be incorporated to improve the accuracy of the estimates.

To find out the latest information on when UK government statistics will be released, please visit the statistics release calendar.

5.10 Other publications relevant to this release

A number of publications released by DEFRA, are relevant to this release. Below is a list of the key publications and links to them on GOV.UK

• Total Income from Farming in the UK

• Total Income from Farming in England

• Farm Business Survey: Farm Business Income