Eurostat reports 2014 price drops for EU-grown fruit, vegetables

The value of fresh vegetable production has fallen 6.5% and that of fruit 10.7% in the EU this year, according to estimates from Eurostat.

This was despite production volumes rising nearly 2% and 0.4% respectively in 2014 compared to 2013, it said in a news release. For potatoes, it said prices were down 24.5% but volumes up 5.5%.

Meanwhile, the value of EU28 agricultural crop production overall is down 6% on last year, “due to a significant decrease in prices (-9.5%), partly counterbalanced by an increase in volume (+3.8%),” the EU’s statistical office said.

On the inputs side, costs have decreased in real terms – by 6.4% for fertilisers and soil improvers, and almost 4% for energy and lubricants.

Farm worker incomes down 1.7%

Over 2005–2014, real agricultural income per worker in the EU climbed 34.4%, while agricultural labour input fell by 24.6%. Compared with 2005, the per worker income has risen in 19 EU states, remained almost stable in 3, and fallen in Luxembourg, Malta, Ireland, Finland, Croatia and Belgium.

However, relative to last year, real agricultural income per worker slipped 1.7% this year. The biggest drops were in Finland (-22.8%), Lithuania (-19.4%), Belgium (-15.2%), Italy (-11.0%), Estonia (-10.9%) and Denmark (-10.1%), and the highest increases in Slovenia (+13.3%), Hungary (+9.1%), the Czech Republic (+7.2%) and the UK (+6.9%). Greece, Cyprus, France and Germany (only just) were the only other states to see growth this year.

The estimates are based on data supplied by national authorities in the EU28 member states, Eurostat said.