Listen
Scottish Agriculture Facts & Figures
23/06/2009
Scotland's Chief Statistician today published the annual Scottish Agriculture Facts & Figures booklet.
The booklet provides an overview of key Scottish agriculture statistics in 2008 along with selected UK and EU comparisons. Whilst most of the headline statistics for 2008 have already been published, the booklet provides a useful reference guide for users. The following points relate to 2008 unless otherwise stated:
- The total value of agricultural output from Scotland was £2.3 billion, representing 11.7 per cent of UK and 0.7 per cent of EU25 agricultural output
- Agricultural output, measured in GVA (Gross Value Added) was 0.8 per cent of total Scottish GVA (in 2007). This is a higher proportion than in England (0.4 per cent) and Wales (0.3 per cent). Northern Ireland's agriculture carries the highest proportion of total GVA at 1.2 per cent
- Land designated as 'Less Favoured Area' makes up almost 85 per cent of agricultural land in Scotland, which is the highest proportion across the four countries of the UK (Wales, Northern Ireland and England show the proportion of LFA land as 81 per cent, 70 per cent and 16 per cent respectively)
- Total livestock (cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry) contribution to Scottish agricultural output was 35.5 per cent in 2008, which is proportionately higher than the UK (27.6 per cent) and EU25 contributions (24.1 per cent)
- In Scotland, 38 per cent of agricultural holdings were smaller than 5 hectares in size. This compares to 40 per cent in the UK, and 70 per cent in EU27
- In Scotland, for holdings larger than 5 hectares, the average size was 176.7 hectares. This is much greater than corresponding averages in the UK (89.5 hectares) and EU27 (48.8 hectares)