This briefing sets out important indicators of UK agriculture that have been published annually over a long period of time. Together they give an indication of some of the ways that agriculture has changed in response to events over the last 100 years.
Agriculture: Historical Statistics (3MB PDF)
Consistent statistics on agriculture have been collected for a longer period of time than for many other industries or subject areas.
The first proper agricultural census of Great Britain was taken in 1865 and has been carried out annually in June ever since. It still collects much of the same information on crop areas and livestock numbers. Official statistics on annual crop yields were first published in 1884, livestock products at the start of the 20th century and annual data on agricultural workers from 1921.
This briefing sets out a small number of important indicators of UK agriculture that have been published annually over this time.
Together they give an indication of some of the ways that agriculture has changed in response to events over the last 100 years or more including the two world wars, the depression of the 1930s, the post-war boom and entry into the European Community. These long runs of data also give some historical context to more recent changes in agriculture including dramatic falls in prices and farm incomes, and animal diseases such as BSE and foot and mouth disease.
A number of series, notably farm sizes and the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, are not sufficiently consistent or longstanding to include in this briefing.
Most that are included have one or more breaks in their data. This is either because of changes to data collection, which were intended to reflect changes in agriculture; improvements in methods of collection; or geographical change (the partition of Ireland for example). However, in most cases the impact is small, and they do not limit the use of the data.
In 2025, there were around 6 million hectares of arable (crop) land and 6 million of pasture (for livestock grazing) in the UK.
The amount of arable land increased dramatically during the Second World War from around 5 million hectares to nearly 8 million hectares, and it has fallen gradually since then. The amount of pasture land has fallen over the last century, but it has increased since the 1970s.
The area used to produce wheat and barley increased rapidly in the 20th century, although wheat has largely replaced barley since the 1980s, bringing barley production down to early 20th century levels. The area other crops like turnips, swedes and oats fell (around 90% since the late 19th century). Orchards have also declined rapidly since the 1950s.
UK cattle numbers rose over the 20th century to a peak of around 15 million in the 1970s, and has since declined to around 9 million in 2025. Sheep and pig numbers have been more variable, but both increased after the Second World War before declining more recently; there were around 30 million sheep and 5 million pigs in the UK in 2025.
The numbers of poultry (such as chickens) have increased more consistently over the 20th century, although breaks in the data series make this more complicated to interpret. In 2025 there were around 180 million poultry in the UK.
The number of agricultural workers (not including farm owners) has fallen consistently over the 20th century, although this trend temporarily reversed during the Second World War. There were over 900,000 agricultural workers in Great Britain in 1925 and around 150,000 in the UK in 2025.
Over the same time farm productivity (the output produced per unit of inputs, such as labour, land and fertiliser) has increased consistently, although more gradually since the 2000s.
Farm incomes have fluctuated significantly since the 1970s, largely because of international economic factors such as exchange rates (which determine how expensive UK products are compared with other countries’ exports). The income from UK agriculture in 2025 was around £8.4 billion.
Agriculture: Historical Statistics (3MB PDF)
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