Large agricultural holdings are farming 51 % of agricultural area
Provisional results of the Agricultural Census 2020[i] compiled by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that in 2020, there were 2.3 thousand large agricultural holdings in Latvia with a standard indicator[ii] of more than EUR 100 000 per year, farming 51% of agricultural area.
Medium-sized holdings (with a standard indicator of EUR 15-99.9 thousand per year) numbered 7.9 thousand and accounted for 26.3 % of agricultural area, while 58.8 thousand holdings (with a standard indicator of EUR 15-99.9 thousand per year) accounted for 26.3 % of agricultural area.
Agricultural employment
In 2020, a total of 185.4 thousand persons were employed in agriculture, of whom 155 400 or 83.8 % were permanent and 30 000 or 16.2 % were temporary. 133.7 or 86.1 % of those permanently employed were owners and their family members.
Since 2001, when the first agricultural census after regaining independence took place, the number of people permanently employed in agriculture has decreased by 110.1 thousand. or 41.5 %.
88.7 % of those employed in agriculture worked part-time, i.e. less than 1840 h per year. In 2001, 17.5 thousand or 11.3 % of the employed worked full-time in agriculture, a decrease of 13.5 percentage points compared to 2001 Part-time work is predominant on crop farms, where seasonal work is typical.
93.1 % of holdings last year were managed by the owners themselves, 3.7 % by another family member, 1.7 % by someone outside the family and 1.5 % by the owner's spouse.
60.3 % or 41.6 thousand holding managers were over 54 years of age, of whom 39.5 thousand were also holding owners. 3.6 thousand, or 5.2 % of holding managers were in the 18-34 age group.
Level of education of holding managers in agriculture is gradually increasing
In 2020, 49.7 % of holding managers had only practical experience in farming, that is 20 percentage points less than 20 years ago. Compared to previous agricultural censuses, the number of managers with vocational or vocational secondary education in agriculture and basic training in agriculture has increased to 22.4 % and 20.7 % respectively. However, only 7.2% of farm managers still have a higher education qualification in agriculture.
In 9.2 % of cases, the holding manager had received additional agricultural training in the last year.
Organic farming in 2020
The number of organic farms has increased by 19.9% over the last 10 years. In 2020, Latvia had 4 000 farms using organic farming methods, farming 285.5 ha or 14.5 % of agricultural land, twice as many as in 2010.
Organic agriculture; 2010, 2020
| 2020 | 2010 | ||||
All holdings | Organic holdings | % | All holdings | Organic holdings | % | |
Number of holdings, thousand | 83.4 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 69.0 | 4.0 | 5.8 |
utilised UAA, ha | 1 938.8 | 142.5 | 7.3 | 1 969.3 | 285.5 | 14.5 |
Total SI, thousand | 868 327.1 | 71 380.0 | 8.2 | 1 330 893.0 | 157 128.1 | 11.8 |
Number of employed, thousand | 181.0 | 9.7 | 5.4 | 155.4 | 10.6 | 6.8 |
On organic farms, the largest areas are grassland (46.3%), arable grassland (23.4%) and cereals (22.2%).
Area under organic farming, thousand ha
| 2020 | 2010 |
Meadows and pastures | 132.1 | 54.3 |
Arable grassland sown for seed | 66.9 | 49.8 |
Cereals | 63.3 | 30.7 |
Other crops | 11.7 | 5.2 |
Potatoes | 1.5 | 1.0 |
Fruit trees and berry trees | 3.3 | 0.7 |
Legumes | 6.1 | 0,6 |
Open field vegetables | 0.5 | 0.2 |
The number of organic livestock is also increasing In 2020, 26.3% of cattle, 13% of dairy cows, 39.5% of sheep, 22.5% of goats and 1.2% of laying hens were organic.
The main areas of specialisation on organic farms in 2020 were livestock farming excluding dairy farming (29.7%), dairy farming (22.1%) and mixed crop-livestock farming (18.6%). In turn, 36% of organic farms specialised in dairy farming in 2010.
Specialisation of organic holdings in 2020
(% of total organic holdings)
More information on the preliminary results of the 2020 Agricultural Census - number of farms, average farm sizes, land use, livestock and agricultural employment in regions and districts - is available on the Official Statistics Portal under Sectors/ Agriculture
Media requests:
Communication Section
E-pasts: media@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366621, +371 27880666
More information:
Ilze Januška
Lauksaimniecības statistikas daļa
E-pasts: Ilze.Januska@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366896
[i]The first Latvian Agricultural Census took place 100 years ago – in 1920 together with the first Population and Housing Census. During the years of the first republic, six agricultural censuses were conducted in Latvia. After Latvia regained its independence, two censuses were held – in 2001 and 2010 and 2020.
[ii]A standard indicator (SI) is characterizing the economic activity of an agricultural holding, i.e., value of products acquired from one hectare of agricultural crops or one livestock head (unit), estimated at prices of the corresponding region and expressed in euro.
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