That is by far the highest share of land used for agriculture among the 27 member states. The gap was widest in Ireland and Greece, where employment share exceeded value added share by 15.6 and 10.4 percentage points, respectively. In 2024, Italy’s agricultural industry had the highest value added among EU countries, contributing 17.4% of the EU total. Separately, Eurostat reported that EU agricultural labour productivity rose by 9.2% in 2025. Overall, EU agricultural labour productivity in 2025 was 49.4% higher than in 2015, reflecting a 20.8% increase in income and a 19.1% decline in labour input.

Source: Irish Examiner January 05, 2026 16:37 UTC