Agricultural industry profit recovers in 2024
An Accredited Official Statistics Publication.
The Chief Statistician has released 2024 figures on total income from farming, the official measure of the profit (output minus costs) of the agricultural industry in Scotland.
These initial estimates predict a strong recovery of agricultural industry profit from its 5-year low in 2023.
Total income from farming is estimated to reach around £1.3 billion in 2024, increasing by £0.4 billion.
While continued high commodity prices mean the value of agricultural output (around £4.6 billion) is quite stable, decreased costs compared to the previous year drive a higher profit margin in 2024.
Total costs are estimated at £3.8 billion, decreasing nearly £0.5 billion from 2023 levels. Costs for feed and fertiliser in 2024 decreased, but remain high compared to pre-2022 levels.
Scotland’s largest agricultural sector is beef. Output from the beef sector is estimated to be worth £0.8 billion in 2024, a record value as market prices remain strong, despite a decrease in finished number of cattle.
The value of the egg, pig and poultry sectors also reached record values in 2024, while a small increase was seen for the milk sector.
Decreases were seen in sheep and lambs. Elsewhere in the cropping sectors, large increases in the value of potatoes raised output to nearly £0.4 billion while cereal output fell back towards 2021 levels.
Background
The full statistical publication with supporting data tables is available at:
https://www.gov.scot/publications/total-income-from-farming-estimates-2018-2024
Total income from farming (TIFF) is the official measure of the profit (output minus costs) gained by the agricultural industry in Scotland. This publication contains initial estimates for 2024. At the time of publication, not all data are available for 2024. This estimate is subject to a degree of revision in future years as more data becomes available.
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Official statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.