More than 40% of agricultural households below low-income level |
12/07/2018 |
In 2016, 44% of agricultural households had to live on incomes below the low-income level of 23,870 euros. What was striking about this result is that this high share was reached in the same year in which the average family farm income increased to the highest level since 2001 due to good results in horticulture under glass and pig farming. The percentage of agricultural households below the low-income level was also higher than 40% in 2002 and 2009, but that was accompanied by on average lower incomes. Dairy farming, which is the largest sector as far as number of holdings is concerned, saw a considerable decline per household in 2016 due to a lower average milk price. This caused an increase in the share of dairy farming households below the low-income level to more than 50%. The results for 2017 showed a strong recovery again. |