Finland
February 18,2016
In 2015, there was a total of 50,999 agriculture and horticulture enterprises in Finland. The number of farms declined by three per cent compared to the year before. Since 2010, about 8,500 farms have ended their operation. The remaining farms are becoming larger. The average arable area on the farms was 44 hectares in 2015.
86 per cent of farms were still family-run farms, and eight per cent were farming syndicate units. Less than three per cent of farms were owned by heirs, and less than two per cent were run by limited companies.
– The number of family-run farms has declined the most compared with the year before. The number of limited companies was the only type of ownership that increased. In 2015, the number of limited companies was 892, that is 33 more than the year before, says Actuary Jaana Kyyrä of the Natural Resources Institute Finland.
The greatest decline has taken place in the number of small farms
The financial size of about 55 per cent of the farms was less than EUR 25,000 in 2015. About 30 per cent of farms were worth more than EUR 50,000.
– Both in terms of numbers and proportionately, the greatest reduction in the number of farms has taken place in the smallest farm size, which is EUR 2,000–4,000. The number of farms in this category has fallen by 13 per cent compared to previous year, says Kyyrä.
Farms have either ended their operation or their economic output is below the minimum size in the agriculture and horticulture enterprise register, as farms smaller than EUR 2,000 are not included in the register.
The average age of farmers on privately owned farms is increasing. Photo: Sanna-Leena Kettunen
The economic output is calculated using the Standard Output method by which an average profit is calculated for an agricultural product either as EUR/hectare or EUR/livestock on the basis on farm-specific prices. Average prices of the past five years are used in the calculation. The standard output does not take subsidies into account, as subsidies have been detached from production in EU’s agricultural policy.
More detailed information and tables related to the statistics are available in the Stat.luke.fi service.
Background to the statistics
The structure statistics on agricultural and horticultural enterprises contain information on the number, land use forms and production lines of these enterprises, and farmers in Finland. The statistics provide an overall view of Finnish agricultural and horticultural enterprises by illustrating the structure of farms, ownership and production, as well as the number and age structure of farmers. Finland’s agricultural administration databases are the primary source of information for the statistics.
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