Accredited official statistics

Total income from farming in the UK in 2024

Updated 5 June 2025

This release presents the estimate for Total Income from Farming (TIFF) in the UK for 2024. 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.

The value of TIFF is subject to a degree of revision in future years when additional data becomes available. In this release, the estimate of TIFF for 2023, published in June 2024, has been revised downwards by £1.1 billion (-15.9%). This is primarily due to a substantial upwards revision in the value of expenditure on fertilisers (+£1.0 billion, +71.9%). See Section 6.2: Revisions for full details.

TIFF data for 2024 for Northern Ireland was unavailable at the time the 2024 UK estimates were compiled and so 2024 Northern Ireland figures have been estimated for this release.

1. Key messages

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.

• UK TIFF in 2024 was £7.7 billion, an increase of £1.6 billion (+26.4%) from 2023. Following price volatility in 2022 and 2023, this large increase in TIFF was driven by a decrease of £1.2 billion in the value of inputs coupled with a £0.4 billion increase in the value of outputs.

• Total livestock output in 2024 increased by £1.1 billion (+5.6%) from 2023, to £20.1 billion, driven by increases in the values of eggs (+35.2%), beef (+9.3%) and milk (+5.5%). However, it should be noted that an improved methodology for Defra egg statistics in 2024 is estimated to have contributed around a third of the year-on-year increase for eggs. In 2024, the average price of eggs across all production methods increased by 8.7% to 144 pence per dozen, due to increases in the production of higher-cost free-range eggs. High prices strengthened producer confidence, resulting in a 4.1% increase in total egg production. In the beef sector, the increase in value (£352 million) was due to historically high prices for deadweight prime cattle along with a 3.8% increase in home-fed beef production. The overall farm-gate price of milk increased by 4.4% to 41 pence per litre in 2024, with higher prices driving increases in production volume in the latter half of the year.

• In 2024, total crop output decreased by £0.6 billion (-5.3%) from 2023, to £11.7 billion. This decrease was driven by substantial falls in the values of wheat and barley (-26.9% and -14.1% respectively) as well as oilseed rape (-30.8%). The decrease in value of these key crop commodities was driven by poor yields caused by wet weather conditions in key planting periods, and a continued decrease in cereal and oilseed prices after the exceptionally high prices seen in 2022.

• Intermediate consumption decreased by £1.2 billion (-5.5%) from 2023, to £20.9 billion in 2024. This decrease was primarily driven by a 26.3% decrease in the value of fertilisers following a substantial fall (-20.5% from 2023) in the price of fertilisers after historically high prices in 2022 and 2023.

• In 2024, agriculture’s contribution to the UK economy (Gross Value Added^{[footnote 1]} at basic prices^{[footnote 2]}) was £14.5 billion (0.56% of GVA). This constitutes an increase of £1.6 billion (+12.8%) in GVA compared to 2023.

Figure 1: Total Income from Farming for the United Kingdom: 2019 to 2024 at current prices

Figure 1 shows the value of TIFF from 2019 to 2024 at current prices.

Since 2019, the average value of TIFF has been £6.4 billion, with the lowest value of £5.1 billion occurring in 2020, and the highest value of £8.0 billion occurring in 2022. TIFF in 2024 was the second highest in this period, in current prices ^{[footnote 3]}, at £7.7 billion, an increase of 26.4% from 2023.

2. Outputs and subsidies

In this section we provide a detailed comparison of the outputs and subsidies from the TIFF account for the past 2 years in current prices. This approach is considered the most intuitive for comparisons over a short time period.

2.1 Overview

Figure 2: Summary of outputs and subsidies, 2019 to 2024

Figure 2 shows the value of all outputs and subsidies from 2019 to 2024. 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.

In 2024, total livestock output was £20,127 million, an increase of £1,074 million (+5.6%) on 2023. The second largest contribution to the value of outputs and subsidies in 2024 was total crop output at £11,657 million, a decrease of £646 million (-5.3%) on 2023. The remaining incomes to farmers in 2024 were subsidies (£3,025 million), diversification (£1,952 million) and other agricultural activities (£1,646 million).

2.2 Total livestock output

Figure 3: Main contributions to total livestock output (£ million)

Item	2023	2024
Milk	5,985	6,316
Beef	3,796	4,148
Poultry	3,533	3,351
Pigmeat	1,784	1,844
Mutton and lamb	1,559	1,764
Eggs	1,003	1,355
Livestock gross fixed capital formation	1,238	1,210

• The largest contribution to total livestock output in 2024 was milk with a value of £6,316 million, an increase of 332 million (+5.5%) from 2023. At the start of 2024, farm-gate milk prices were 17.1% lower than the historically high first-quarter price in 2023. Prices began to increase in spring and into the summer due to reduced global dairy product supply. The overall farm-gate price of milk was 41 pence per litre, a 4.4% increase from 2023. Increased prices drove production volume increases in the latter half of the year. In 2024, overall production of milk for human consumption reached 15,269 thousand tonnes, a 1.1% increase from 2023.

• In 2024, the largest value increase in total livestock output was for eggs with an increase of £353 million (+35.2%) from 2023. However, it should be noted that an improved methodology for Defra egg statistics in 2024 is estimated to have contributed around a third of the year-on-year increase for eggs. For more information, please see section 6.1 of Latest UK egg statistics publication. In 2024, production of UK eggs for human consumption reached a historical high at 1,006 million dozen eggs, a 4.1% increase from 2023. High prices provided producer confidence, with an 8.7% increase in farm-gate egg prices to 144 pence per dozen compared to 2023. This rise in price was primarily caused by an increase in production of higher-cost free-range eggs in response to consumer demand for higher welfare eggs.

• The second largest increase in livestock output was for beef which increased by £352 million (+9.3%) compared to 2023, to £4.1 billion. This increase was primarily due to an increase in the deadweight price of prime cattle which increased 4.4% from 2023 to 497 pence per kilogram, as a result of strong consumer demand and an expectation of tighter global and domestic cattle supplies in 2025. Home-fed production increased by 3.8% in response to high prices, particularly in the second half of the year.

2.3 Total crop output

Figure 4: Main contributions to total crop output (£ million)

Item	2023	2024
Wheat	2,957	2,161
Fresh vegetables	1,986	2,028
Plants and flowers	1,706	1,701
Potatoes	1,138	1,461
Barley	1,348	1,158
Fruit	1,037	1,084
Other crop products	581	694
Other industrial crops	578	554
Oilseed rape	483	335
Forage plants	263	242

Notes:

1. Potato prices and yield information were previously obtained from the AHDB who stopped producing data midway through 2021. From 2022 we have estimated yields based on input from sector representatives, devolved administrations and coverage of the sector in the farming press. For prices we made use of the Northern Ireland published potato price figures.

2. ‘Other industrial crops’ includes the value of protein crops and sugar beet.

• The largest contribution to total crop output in 2024 was wheat with a value of £2,161 million. Wheat also saw the largest value decrease of all crop commodities, falling by £796 million (-26.9%). Harvest wheat production decreased by 20.3% to 11.1 million tonnes from 2023, the lowest production since 2020, as a result of a decline in planted area (-11.0%) and yield (-10.4%). The 2024 wheat crop suffered due to wet planting conditions in both winter and spring, with limited yields and variable quality. Prices continued to decrease from the high prices seen in 2022 and 2023 as a result of the Ukraine-Russia conflict. The average price of UK breadmaking wheat was £238.64 per tonne, a 9.6% decrease from 2023.

• In 2024, the second largest value decrease in a crop item was for barley, with a decrease of £190 million (-14.1%) from 2023, to £1,158 million in 2024. Despite a drop in yields from 6.1 tonnes per hectare to 5.9 tonnes per hectare, barley production increased by 1.8% to 7.1 million tonnes compared to 2023. The reduction in the value of barley was therefore driven by a reduction in price, with premium malting barley falling by 18.0% to £193.37 per tonne and feed barley falling by 9.6% to £158.86 per tonne. Similarly to wheat, these price decreases were driven by a period of market stability after global price volatility in 2022 and 2023.

• The largest percentage value decrease in a crop item in 2024 was for oilseed rape which fell by 30.8% from 2023. This decrease in value was due to a 32.3% decrease in production driven by a 25.0% decrease in planted area and 9.7% decrease in yields. Production was affected by pest pressures along with competitive global supplies of soybeans, an alternative protein crop.

2.4 Other Outputs and Subsidies

Table 1: Breakdown of other incomes and subsidies (£ million)

Item	2023	2024
Subsidies not linked to production	2,864	2,978
Diversification	1,934	1,952
Other agricultural activities	1,655	1,646
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. Subsidies captured in the accounts do not include capital grants to farmers. This, alongside more minor differences in reporting scope, means that payments totals reported in this chapter will not align with those in Chapter 10: Agricultural Support Payments, which includes all payments reported as part of the Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Report that is submitted to OECD.

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

In 2024, the value of subsidies not linked to production increased by £114 million (+3.9%) from 2023.

3. Inputs and costs

In this section we provide a detailed comparison of the inputs and costs from the TIFF account for the past 2 years in current prices. This approach is considered the most intuitive for comparisons over a short time period.

3.1 Overview

Figure 5: Summary of inputs and costs, 2019 to 2024

Figure 5 shows the composition of all inputs and costs from 2019 to 2024. Inputs and costs represent all money paid out by farmers during a calendar year. Values are presented in millions.

Inputs and costs represent all money paid out by farmers during a calendar year. The ratios of items which make up all inputs and costs have been relatively consistent for the last 6 years. The largest cost facing farmers is intermediate consumption^{[footnote 4]}. In 2024 the value of intermediate consumption was £20,939 million, a decrease of £1,214 million (-5.5%) on 2023. The remaining costs in 2024 were total consumption of fixed capital (£5,303 million), compensation of employees (£3,044 million) and other costs^{[footnote 5]} (£1,232 million).

3.2 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. As a result of this, there has been a substantial revision to the value of fertiliser for 2023. See Section 6.2: Revisions for details.

Figure 6: Main contributions to intermediate consumption (£ million)

Item	2023	2024
Animal feed: compounds	4,774	4,415
Other goods and services	3,700	3,863
Total maintenance	2,096	2,136
Animal feed: straights	1,854	1,818
Fertilisers	2,342	1,725
Agricultural services	1,655	1,646
Motor and machinery fuels	1,173	981
Seeds	951	975
Plant protection products	1,074	969
Animal feed: other	1,007	900
Electricity and fuels for heating	785	765
Veterinary expenses	543	561

Notes:

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

2. There has been a substantial revision to the value of fertiliser in 2023. See Section 6.2: Revisions for details.

• The largest contribution to intermediate consumption was compound animal feed with a value of £4,415 million, a decrease of £359 million (-7.5%) from 2023. Total compound feed production increased by 567 kilotonnes (+4.4%) from 2023, however this was offset by decreases in compound feed prices. Cattle and calf feed decreased by 11.3%, pig feed by 12.2%, sheep feed by 11.2% and poultry feed by 11.2%. Similar decreases were also seen in the prices of animal feed straights, in line with reductions in crop commodity prices.

• In 2024, the largest value decrease in intermediate consumption was from fertilisers which fell by £617 million (-26.3%) to £1.7 billion. This was driven by a decrease in the cost of gas, a key input for fertiliser production, in comparison to the high prices seen in 2022 and 2023. The decrease in price led to an increase in fertiliser applications per unit area, however this was offset by reductions in key crop areas, including an 11.0% decrease in wheat area and a 15.5% decrease in winter barley area. It should be noted that there was a large reduction in the estimated value of fertilisers in 2023. This was a result of earlier estimates, made on the basis of fertiliser application rates and crop areas, being updated with the latest fertiliser expenditure data from the Farm Business Survey. See Section 6.2: Revisions for details.

• Overall there was a general decreasing trend across the majority of intermediate consumption items, largely driven by a reduction in the high energy and fuel prices seen in 2022 and 2023.

3.3 Other Inputs and Costs

Table 2: Breakdown of other inputs and costs (£ million)

Item	2023	2024
Total consumption of fixed capital	5,215	5,303
Equipment consumption of fixed capital	2,575	2,660
Livestock consumption of fixed capital	1,372	1,348
Buildings consumption of fixed capital	1,267	1,295
Other taxes on production	98	100
Compensation of employees	3,075	3,044
Rent	533	528
Interest	701	804

Notes:

1. There has been a revision to the value of interest for 2023. See Section 6.2: Revisions for details.

4. Long Term Trends in TIFF

Values in this section are expressed in real terms^{[footnote 6]} at 2024 prices. The figures have been adjusted to account for inflation, which allows more meaningful comparisons between years over the longer term.

Figure 7: Long term trends in TIFF, 2000 to 2024

Table 3: Headline figures in real terms 2019 to 2024 (£ billion)

Item	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Total crop output	12.3	10.5	12.9	15.0	12.7	11.7
Total livestock output	17.6	17.4	18.9	21.1	19.6	20.1
Total intermediate consumption	21.0	19.6	21.6	24.2	22.8	20.9
Total income from farming	6.2	5.9	7.8	8.9	6.3	7.7

Figure 7 shows the long term trends in TIFF from 2000 to 2024. TIFF is presented in billions.

• Overall, TIFF has increased in real terms in recent decades, despite some large year-on-year fluctuations, and has more than tripled since 2000.

• A notable dip occurred in 2015 and 2016, driven by a strong pound in 2015, a poor 2016 harvest and low commodity prices throughout. However, 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.

• Following lower values in 2018 to 2020, 2021 saw a sharp increase (+32.6%) in TIFF, as a result of an inflation rate of less than 0.1% and favourable weather conditions that led to an increase in production, particularly for crops. 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 price rises for inputs as a result of a sharp increase in crude oil prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

• In 2023, TIFF fell by 29.4% in real terms due to the increased value of inputs, particularly fertilisers, due to continued elevation in oil and gas prices, as gas is a key input for fertiliser production. Additionally, a decreased cereal harvest due to poor weather led to a decrease in crop output value, resulting in a substantial reduction in TIFF.

• In 2024, a relatively poor year for crops was offset by a strong year for livestock due to increased demand and high commodity prices across all livestock categories except poultry and pigs. The resulting increase in output value, coupled with a decrease in intermediate consumption due to reductions in energy and fuel costs, led to an increase in TIFF of £1.4 billion (+22.7%) in real terms from 2023, to £7.7 billion in 2024.

5. Balance Sheet for the United Kingdom Agricultural Industry

Table 4: Balance sheet (£ million)

Item	2021	2022	2023	2024
Total fixed assets	331,267	332,943	373,337	400,528
Total current assets	18,647	19,881	18,147	18,672
Total assets	349,915	352,824	391,484	419,201
Total long and medium term liabilities	16,448	16,573	17,080	16,833
Total short term liabilities	5,965	6,274	6,410	6,283
Total liabilities	22,413	22,847	23,490	23,116
Net worth	327,501	329,977	367,994	396,084

Notes:

1. Balance sheet as at December each year.

Table 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 £396,084 million in 2024, an increase of £28,090 million (+7.6%) on 2023. This was the result of an increase in total assets of 7.1% and a decrease in total liabilities of 1.6%. Land is the largest fixed asset in the agricultural industry with a value of £345,461 million in 2024, an increase of 7.2% on 2023.

Table 5: Balance sheet in real terms (£ million)

Item	2021	2022	2023	2024
Total assets	407,502	390,783	403,330	419,201
Total liabilities	26,102	25,305	24,201	23,116
Net worth	381,400	365,478	379,130	396,084

In real terms at 2024 prices, net worth increased by 4.5% from 2023. Total assets increased by 3.9% and total liabilities decreased by 4.5%.

6. About these statistics

6.1 Contact details

Enquiries: Alexandra Hall +44 (0)20 7714 1374

Email: farmaccounts@defra.gov.uk

Media enquiries: 0345 051 8486

Public enquiries: 0845 601 3034

Defra

Kings Pool,

1 – 2 Peasholme Green,

York,

YO1 7PX

6.2 Revisions

Table 6: Revisions in total outputs, costs and TIFF (£ million)

Item	Previous estimate for 2023 (Published June 2024)	Current estimate for 2023 (Published June 2025)	% change (from Jun 24 to Jun 25 estimate)
All outputs and subsidies	37,576	37,955	1.0%
All inputs and costs	30,344	31,676	4.4%
Total income from farming	7,232	6,082	-15.9%

TIFF is calculated as the (relatively small) difference between two large numbers, ‘outputs and subsidies’ and ‘inputs and costs’, and so minor changes in these numbers can feed through to cause a large change in the value of TIFF. There was a substantial revision to TIFF in the UK in 2023 of £1.1 billion as a result of an increase in ‘all inputs and costs’ of 4.4%.

Table 7: Revisions larger than £100 million in outputs (£ million)

Item	Previous estimate for 2023 (Published June 2024)	Current estimate for 2023 (Published June 2025)	% change (from Jun 24 to Jun 25 estimate)
Fresh vegetables	1,860	1,986	6.8%
Output of potatoes	1,005	1,138	13.2%
Beef	3,908	3,796	-2.9%

The revision to the value of cattle for meat for 2023 is due to changes in methodology, introducing new weighting to better align fluctuations in price and volume, and revisions to the slaughter back series due to new data becoming available.

The revision to the values of vegetables and potatoes for 2023 is due to the replacement of estimates used for the 2024 TIFF publication as new data became available.

Table 8: Revisions larger than £100 million in inputs and costs (£ million)

Item	Previous estimate for 2023 (Published June 2024)	Current estimate for 2023 (Published June 2025)	% change (from Jun 24 to Jun 25 estimate)
Fertilisers	1,362	2,342	71.9%
Feed produced and used on farm or purchased	1,195	1,007	-15.7%
Interest	510	701	37.4%

For 2023, there has been a substantial upwards revision in the value of expenditure on fertilisers (+£979 million, +71.9%), which has been the main driver of a substantial reduction in the estimate of TIFF for 2023 (-£1.1 billion). The initial estimates are based on trends in fertiliser application rates, and these are then updated the following year based on Farm Business Survey data on fertiliser expenditure. This can cause differences between initial and final estimates when patterns in fertiliser purchasing and application rates do not align, which has been particularly noticeable in the past few years due to price volatility. We are looking into the potential for other sources of fertiliser data and industry intelligence to strengthen our estimation methodology for future years.

The revision to the value of feed produced on farm from 2023 is due to the replacement of estimates used for the 2024 TIFF publication as new data became available.

The revision to the value of interest from 2023 is due to revisions in the underlying indices on which the value of interest is based.

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.

6.3 Accredited Official Statistics

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. An explanation can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website.

These statistics were independently reviewed by the UK Statistics Authority (now the Office for Statistics Regulation) in 2014 (see Assessment Report 271: Statistics on Agriculture). They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

The continued designation of these statistics as accredited official statistics was confirmed in December 2017 following a compliance check by the UK Statistics Authority (now the Office for Statistics Regulation) against the Code of Practice for Statistics. The compliance check letter can be found on the Office for Statistics Regulation website.

Since the latest review by the Office for Statistics Regulation, we have continued to comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics and have enhanced data quality by reviewing methodologies and data sources.

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

6.4 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 components of the accounts with internal experts.
• Discussion of components of the accounts with external experts.

6.5 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.

6.6 Main users and uses of the aggregate agricultural accounts

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.

6.7 Related publications

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 factor productivity of the UK agricultural industry.

• Total Income from Farming in England.

• Total Income from Farming in the regions of England.

• Farm Business Survey: Farm business income.

1. 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). ↩

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

3. 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’. ↩

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

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

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