The number of farms decreased by 12.4% in the 2023 survey compared to the 2020 census and stood at 784,141. On the other hand, the estimated Utilized Agricultural Area (UAA) was 23.5 million hectares (Ha), with a decrease of 1.6%. As a result, the average UUA per farm grew by 13.2%, reaching 30.46 hectares Ha.
Hectares
1 For the calculation, holdings with UAA have been taken account
The only increase in UAA for outdoor crops was for fruit trees, which grew by 2.0%. Orchards and Other woody crops saw the largest declines of 42.6% and 12.0%, respectively.
The area of greenhouse cultivation decreased by 14.8% to 55,300 hectares.
Arable land concentrated 49.0% of the total outdoor UAA in 2023. Permanent pastures accounted for 31.4% of the total and Woody crops 19.6%. Olives was the crop with the highest weight within the woody crops, with 10.3% of the total.
Percentage
Percentage
Castilla y León, Aragón and Extremadura were the communities with the largest average sizes of UAA per farm in 2023, with 74.95, 61.81 and 51.53 hectares, respectively.
On the other hand, Canarias (3.69 Ha), Comunitat Valenciana (6.83) and Galicia (14.52) had the smallest average sizes.
Hectares
2 Includes Ceuta y Melilla
The average farm size increased the most between 2023 and 2020 in Galicia (41.3%), Comunidad de Madrid (20.7%) and Castilla y León (18.9%). It only decreased in the Canary Islands (-23.3%).
In 2023 there were 144,939 farms with livestock, 10.5% less than in 2020. Farms with poultry were the only ones to increase during this period, by 0.3%.
In terms of livestock numbers, the biggest declines were in Goats (-12.1%) and Sheep (-11.4%). The only species that increased from 2020 to 2023 was poultry (9.5%).
By Autonomous Communities, the largest number of Cattle was concentrated in Castilla y León in 2023 (1.4 million heads). Sheep were most concentrated in Extremadura (3.5 million). And Goats in Andalusia (910,000).
Catalonia had the highest number of pigs (7.8 million heads) and poultry (46.9 million). Castilla y León had the highest number of rabbits (292,000).
3 Includes Ceuta y Melilla
'..' Data subject to statistical confidentiality
In 2023, organic UAA accounted for 9.5% of total UAA, and increased by 19.2% compared to 2020.
The largest increases in organic UAA by crop were for Other woody crops (62.6%), Fruit trees (54.5%) and Vineyards (29.9%).
Hectares
4 Kitchen gardens are not included
By crop type, the crops with the highest percentage of organic UAA compared to the total UAA in 2023 were Fruit trees and berries (29.6%) and Wine grape vineyards (19.3%).
And those with the lowest percentage were Roots and tubers (1.4%) and Industrial crops (2.8%).
The percentages of organic livestock in relation to the total were 5.8% for Sheep, 4.9% for Goats, 4.3% for Cattle, 1.6% for Poultry and 0.3% for Pigs.
The farm owner is the natural or legal person, owner or lessee, who assumes legal and economic responsibility for the farm and makes decisions.
The farm manager, on the other hand, is the natural person responsible for the current and daily financial and production activities of the farm. In general, this is the same as the owner, when they are a natural person. If they are not the same person, the manager may be a member of the holder's family or another person.
The number of farm managers decreased by 12.4% between 2020 and 2023. In terms of gender, the number of female managers registered decreased by 9.9% and male managers by 13.4%.
In the case of farms managers who are not the farm owner, the number of women increased by 0.1% and the number of men decreased by 28.7%.
The data published today are final. All the results of this operation are available at INEbase. Data on the complementary block on modular variables will be published on 3 April.
The Farm Structure Survey 2023 is conducted in all European Union countries in accordance with Regulation 2018/1091 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on integrated statistics on farms. It provides the framework for the analysis of the main structural characteristics of farms and the integration of this information with information on agricultural production and aspects related to the development of the agri-environment, and the European Commission’s Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2286.
Compared to previous surveys, and as was already done in the 2020 Agricultural Census, this is an innovative survey, as it is based on the extensive use of administrative records. This approach brings significant improvements over past surveys: such as reducing the response burden on reporting units and lowering the cost of the statistical operation.
The data refer to the agricultural year 2023, i. e. the season from 01 October 2022 to 30 September 2023, except for livestock breeding, for which the reference date is 30 September 2023.
The data from the 2020 Agrarian Census used for comparison with the survey does not include the extended framework, which is only contemplated in the case of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, used in the sample design of said census.
The Farm Structure Survey 2023 is structured in two sections: a main part detailing the main characteristics, and a complementary block covering modular variables on labour force, rural development, irrigation, soil management practices, orchards, machinery and waste generation.
For the preparation of the survey, the INE extends its thanks for the invaluable collaboration of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA), especially the Spanish Agricultural Guarantee Fund (FEGA) and the Subdirectorate for Analysis, Coordination and Statistics. As well as the cooperation received from the Departments of Agriculture of the autonomous communities and the support of the company Tragsatec.
In País Vasco, the operation has been carried out in collaboration with the Euskal Estatistika-Erakundea/Basque Statistics Institute, in accordance with an agreement signed between the Basque Statistics Institute and the INE.
More information on the methodology and the standardised methodological report.
INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information on Quality at INE and Code of Best Practices.
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