European Neighbourhood Policy - East - agriculture statistics

Data extracted in January 2023.

Planned article update: April 2024.

Highlights

In 2021, the contribution of agriculture, forestry and fisheries to total gross value added in the ENP-East countries varied between 12.5 % in Armenia and 6.4 % in Azerbaijan, compared to 1.8 % in the EU.

Employment in agriculture, forestry and fishery as a share of total employment decreased in 2021 compared to 2011 for all ENP-East countries for which data are available.

In 2021, Ukraine produced ten times as much cereals (excluding rice) for the production of grain (including seed), more than 11 times as much potatoes and more than 20 times as much oilseeds than the other four ENP-East countries together.

Employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 2011 and 2021

Countries are ranked based on 2021 data. Data supplied by and under the responsibility of the national statistical authority.
Country codes: AM = Armenia; AZ = Azerbaijan; GE = Georgia; MD = Moldova; UA = Ukraine
Armenia: 2011: persons aged 15-75 years. 2021: based on population with usual residence; persons aged 15+.
Moldova: 2011: includes persons producing goods for own consumption. 2021: based on population with usual residence.
Georgia: 2011: NACE Rev.1.1. 2021: NACE Rev.2.
Ukraine: 2011: persons aged 15-70 years. 2021: exclude the illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the territories which are not under control of the Ukrainian government.
Source: Eurostat (online data code: lfsa_egan2) and Eurostat data collection

This article is part of an online publication; it presents information relating to recent developments in agriculture for five European Neighbourhood Policy-East (ENP-East) countries, namely, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, compared with the European Union (EU). Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine also all became enlargement countries in 2022, the European Council giving the three a European perspective and granting Moldova and Ukraine candidate status on 23 June 2022. This article does not contain any data on Belarus, as statistical cooperation with Belarus has been suspended as of March 2022.

Data shown for Georgia exclude the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia over which Georgia does not exercise control. The data managed by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova does not include data from Transnistria over which the government of the Republic of Moldova does not exercise control. Since 2014, data for Ukraine generally exclude the illegally annexed Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the territories which are not under control of the Ukrainian government. The latest statistics in this Statistics Explained article cover the calendar year 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Data on Ukraine for the year 2021 is limited due to exemption under the martial law from mandatory data submission to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, effective as of 3 March 2022.

The article focuses on several aspects: the contribution of agriculture, forestry and fishing to the total economy (in terms of gross value added and employment), the production of cereals, livestock populations, meat production and international trade in food and live animals.

Full article

Gross value added and employment

Between 2011 and 2021, the gross value added and employment shares of the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector generally declined in the ENP-East countries (subject to data availability), although there were increases in the value added shares in Ukraine and Azerbaijan. These activities continued to account for a relatively high proportion of total economic activity in the ENP-East countries. In 2021, the output of agriculture, forestry and fishing ranged from 6.4 % of total gross value added in Azerbaijan to 12.5 % in Armenia. In the other ENP-East countries, the shares were 12.4 % in Ukraine, 10.4 % in Moldova and 7.0 % in Georgia. In the EU, the share was substantially lower, accounting for 1.8 % in 2021 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Gross value added from agriculture, forestry and fishing, 2011 and 2021
(% share on total gross value added)
Source: Eurostat (enpe_nama_10_a10) and (nama_10_a10)

In 2021, the share of employment in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector in the total workforce was 14.1 % in Ukraine, the lowest proportion among the ENP-East countries. In Georgia, the proportion of the workforce employed in this sector was lower than 20 % in 2021 (18.9 %). In Moldova and Armenia, the share reached 21.5 % and 22.1 %, respectively, in 2021, while more than one third of the workforce was employed in this sector in Azerbaijan (36.3 %). Thus, the proportion of people working in agriculture, forestry and fishing in Azerbaijan was ten times as high as in the EU, where 3.6 % of the working population were employed in these activities (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Employment in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 2011 and 2021
(% share on total employment)
Source: Eurostat (lfsa_egan2) and Eurostat data collection

Land use

The area within each country that is used for farming varies according to climate, terrain and soil type, while the level of economic development and population density may also play a role in determining land use.

The proportion of land that is given over to agriculture was nearly 70 % of the total area of Armenia and Ukraine in 2021 (see Figure 3). This was particularly noteworthy in Ukraine which is a relatively large country in terms of its total area: indeed, some 41 million hectares of land were used for agricultural activities in Ukraine, equivalent to just above one quarter of the total utilised agricultural area of the EU. In Azerbaijan, the proportion of land attributed to agriculture reached 55.2 %. There is no data available for Georgia and Moldova. All ENP-East countries for which data is available had higher shares than the proportion observed in the EU. Within the EU, 38.4 % of the total area were used in 2021 for farming and for forest and woodland, with the remainder of the land being built-up areas (villages, towns and cities), infrastructure (such as roads or railways), scrub or waste land.

Figure 3: Utilised agricultural area, 2011 and 2021
(% share on total area)
Source: Eurostat (enpe_ef_lus_main), (apro_cpsh1) and (reg_area3)

Crop production

Plants need sunlight, water, healthy soils, air and heat to grow. Thus, crop production is particularly sensitive to the weather and climatic conditions at key times of the growing season, with temperature and precipitation (rainfall) of particular significance for yields and production levels. Extreme weather events, in terms of e.g. frosts, droughts or floods can also have substantial impact on production. The meteorological conditions and the utilised agricultural area (UAA) dedicated to the crops in question should be taken into consideration when comparing crop production in different years.

Compared to the other ENP-East countries, Ukraine had by far the highest production of cereals (excluding rice) for the production of grain (including seed), at 85.3 million tonnes in 2021; of potatoes, at 21.4 million tonnes; and of oilseeds, at 22.9 million tonnes (see Table 1). When comparing to 2011, the production of cereals in Ukraine had increased by 52 % in 2021, while the production of oilseeds almost doubled (+84 %). The production of potatoes however decreased by 12 %. However, production varied considerably from year to year. Over the period 2011 to 2021, Ukraine's production of cereals ranged from a low of 45.6 million tonnes in 2012 to a peak of 85.3 million tonnes in 2021, with an average production of 64.2 million tonnes. For potatoes, the production level ranged from 20.3 million tonnes in 2019 to 24.2 million tonnes in 2011 with an average of 22.1 million tonnes. For oilseeds, the peak in Ukrainian production in this period was at 22.9 million tonnes in 2021 and the low at 12.1 million tonnes in 2012. The average production of oilseeds in Ukraine 2011-2021 was 17.9 million tonnes. Data for reference years not presented in Table 1 can be found in dissemination table (enpe_apro_cpnh1).

Armenia (wheat, rye and barley only) and Georgia were the smallest producers of cereals among the ENP-East countries in 2021, each recording output below half a million tonnes. Production of cereals in Armenia decreased substantially in 2021 compared to 2011 (-67 %), while in Georgia it increased (+8 %).

These two countries plus Moldova were also the smallest producers of potatoes among the ENP-East countries in 2021. All of these three countries registered drops in the production of potatoes between 2011 and 2021, especially in Moldova (-38 %).

Azerbaijan was the only country to register increases in the production of cereals, potatoes and oilseeds from 2011 to 2021. In particular, the production of cereals increased in Azerbaijan by 37 % and the production of oilseeds by 29 %.

Table 1: Harvested crop production, 2011, 2016 and 2021
(thousand tonnes)
Source: Eurostat (enpe_apro_cpnh1) and (apro_cpsh1)

Livestock: population structure and production

The structure of livestock populations in the ENP-East countries is presented in Figure 4. Collectively, there were more cattle than pigs in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in 2021, while in Moldova, Ukraine and the EU the opposite was observed. In Azerbaijan the most common form of livestock was sheep (69 %). In Georgia, the number of cattle was similar to the number of sheep (around 45 % for both). In Armenia, the number of sheep was slightly higher than the number of cattle (48 % and 39 %, respectively). Moldova (no data for sheep and goats) and Ukraine reported a higher number of pigs (77 % and 60 %, respectively). Azerbaijan had the highest share of goats among the ENP-East countries, closely followed by Ukraine (5.5 % and 5.2 %, respectively). Some of these differences between countries may reflect religious or cultural practices.

Figure 4: Livestock population, December 2021
(% share on total number of heads)
Source: Eurostat (enpe_apro_mt_ls), (apro_mt_lscatl), (apro_mt_lspig), (apro_mt_lssheep) and (apro_mt_lsgoat)Figure 4:

The structure of animal output — as measured by the quantity of slaughtered production — differs from the structure of the animal populations, in large part because a proportion of cattle, sheep and goats are reared for milk rather than for meat. In Armenia and Azerbaijan, cattle accounted for the highest quantity of slaughtered production in 2021, while in Moldova the largest quantity came from pigs and in Georgia and Ukraine from poultry (see Table 2).

Compared to 2011, the levels of poultry slaughtering increased substantially in almost all ENP-East countries (except Moldova), the most noticeably for Armenia and Georgia where it more than doubled in the period to 2021 (+156 % and +113 %, respectively). The quantity of slaughtered pigs also increased in 2021 compared to 2011 in most of the ENP-East countries. The exception was Azerbaijan, where the very small quantity decreased further (from 729 tonnes to 500 tonnes). Regarding cattle, the situation was more balanced. In Georgia (-4 %), Moldova (-25 %) and Ukraine (-22 %), the slaughtered production of cattle decreased, while in Armenia (+44 %) and Azerbaijan (+26 %) it showed a positive trend.

Table 2: Slaughtered animal production, 2011, 2016 and 2021
(thousand tonnes)
Source: Eurostat (enpe_apro_mt_p) and (apro_mt_pann)

Trade in food and live animals

The value of international trade in food and live animals has grown at a rapid pace over the last decade in most of the ENP-East countries. This may in part be due to increased prices, as the values shown in Table 3 are presented in current price terms. Fluctuating prices for raw and processed foodstuffs may have a considerable impact on the trade position of a country, while climatic conditions can affect yields and determine if there is a surplus of food for export.

When comparing exports and imports, Ukraine recorded a trade surplus for food and live animals throughout the period 2011-2021, rising from a surplus of €2.1 billion in 2011 to €12.4 billion in 2021, which is also a peak. Moldova moved from recording a deficit between 2011 and 2013 to a surplus between 2014 and 2019 and a deficit was again observed in 2020, followed by a surplus in 2021. In contrast, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia recorded trade deficits for food and live animals during the whole decade. When looking at the EU, a consistent trade surplus for food and live animals products was observed over the period 2011-2021; note that the trade data presented for the EU concern extra-EU trade and the trade data presented for the ENPE-East countries refer to imports/exports from/to all countries of the world.

Table 3: Trade of food and live animals, 2011-2021
(€ million)
Source: Eurostat (enpe_ext_sitc) and (ext_st_eu27_2020sitc)

Collectively, the exports of food and live animals from ENP-East countries were valued at €19.6 billion in 2021, equivalent to 14.5 % of the value for the EU, while the value of imports of these goods to the ENP-East countries was €9.1 billion, equivalent to 8.4 % of the EU value.

The highest value of exports of food and live animals among the ENP-East countries in 2021 was recorded in Ukraine (€17.5 billion). This was more than 25 times the value of exports from Moldova, which recorded the second highest value (€692 million). Armenia and Georgia had the lowest values of food and live animals exports among the ENP-East countries in 2021, with €396 million and €405 million, respectively.

Exports of food and live animals from Armenia were almost eight times as high in 2021 as their level in 2011, while exports from Ukraine were more than three times as high (despite the change in geographical coverage for Ukraine). Exports from Georgia and Moldova more than doubled and exports from Azerbaijan increased by 60 %. For comparison, exports from the EU increased by 60 % in the same period.

Imports of food and live animals to Armenia and Azerbaijan more than doubled in 2021 compared to 2011, while imports to Moldova almost doubled. Imports to Georgia and Ukraine increased by 26 % and 54 % between 2011 and 2021, respectively. For comparison, imports of food and live animals to the EU increased by 28 % in the same period.

Source data for tables and graphs

European Neighbourhood Policy — East countries — agriculture: tables and figures

Data sources

The data for ENP-East countries are supplied by and under the responsibility of the national statistical authorities of each country on a voluntary basis. The data presented in this article result from an annual data collection cycle that has been established by Eurostat. These statistics are available free-of-charge on Eurostat’s website, together with a range of different indicators covering most socio-economic areas.

The utilised agricultural area describes the area used for farming. It includes arable land, permanent grassland, permanent crops (such as orchards, olive trees and vineyards) and other agricultural land such as kitchen gardens.

Statistics on crop production relate to harvested production. Cereals include wheat (common wheat and spelt and durum wheat), rye, maslin, barley, oats, mixed grain other than maslin, grain maize, sorghum, triticale, and other cereal crops such as buckwheat, millet, canary seed and rice.

Meat production is based on the activity of slaughterhouses regarding meat fit for human consumption.

The data for the EU presented in this article come from Eurostat‘s online database, including trade data from Comext.

Tables in this article use the following notation:

Value in italics	data value is forecast, provisional or estimated and is therefore likely to change;
:	not available, confidential or unreliable value.

Context

Agriculture was one of the first sectors of the economy (following coal and steel) to receive the attention of EU policymakers, and statistics on agriculture were initially designed to monitor the main objectives of the Common agricultural policy (CAP). While the CAP remains one of the EU’s most important policies, it has undergone a widespread evaluation, which has led to a range of new objectives designed to correct imbalances and overproduction.

In December 2013, a reform of the CAP was formally adopted by the European Parliament and the Council. The main objectives of the CAP for the period 2014-2020 was to strengthen the competitiveness of the sector, promote sustainable farming and innovation, to support jobs and growth in rural areas and to move financial assistance towards the productive use of land.

In 2018, the European Commission presented legislative proposals for a new, reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) beyond 2020. The reformed CAP should be key to helping the European Union achieving the objectives of the European Green Deal, and 40 % of the funds allocated to the CAP over the next 7-years programming period should be dedicated to actions contributing towards these.

The reformed CAP will help European farmers to contribute more decisively to tackling climate change, protecting the environment and moving to more sustainable and resilient food systems. It will generate economic opportunities for farmers and improve their position in the food supply chain, and better link support for farm income and rural areas to the take-up of sustainable models and practices.

On 2 December, 2021, the agreement on reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP) was formally adopted. The new legislation paves the way for a fairer, greener and more performance-based CAP. The reform covers three regulations, which apply from 1 January 2023:

For the years 2021-22, a transitional regulation (Regulation (EU) 2020/2220) was in force, extending and amending provisions set out in the preceding regulations

On 2 July 2021, the European Commission and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy presented the Eastern Partnership: a Renewed Agenda for cooperation with the EU’s Eastern partners. This agenda is based on the five long-term objectives, with resilience at its core, as defined for the future of the Eastern Partnership in the Joint Communication Eastern Partnership policy beyond 2020: Reinforcing Resilience – an Eastern Partnership that delivers for all in March 2020. It is further elaborated in the Joint Staff Working Document Recovery, resilience and reform: post 2020 Eastern Partnership priorities. It will be underpinned by an Economic and Investment plan. The Joint Declaration of the Eastern Partnership Summit ‘Recovery, Resilience and Reform’ of 15 December 2021 reaffirms strong commitment to a strategic, ambitious and forward-looking Eastern Partnership.

In cooperation with its ENP partners, Eurostat has the responsibility ‘to promote and implement the use of European and internationally recognised standards and methodology for the production of statistics, necessary for developing and monitoring policy achievements in all policy areas’. Eurostat undertakes the task of coordinating EU efforts to increase the statistical capacity of the ENP countries. Additional information on the policy context of the ENP is provided here.