Total agricultural workforce remains in line with previous year

The total agricultural workforce was 66,800 people in 2025, a decrease of 0.5% when compared with the five-year average, and a decrease of 0.9% compared with the previous year. This includes 31,600 regular and seasonal employees working in agriculture, a group that has increased by 4.6% when compared with the five-year average. This increase has been driven by a rise in the number of working business partners, particularly female working family and business partners. When compared with the previous year, the number of regular and seasonal employees decreased by 2.8%, while the number of working occupiers increased by 0.9%.

There were 8,100 casual and seasonal workers, in line with the five-year average. Due to the timing of the June Agricultural Census, it may not capture all seasonal working in Scottish agriculture, particularly those involved in the harvest of soft fruits. 

Non-EU workers accounted for 70% of the migrant labour person working days in 2025 compared with 30% for EU workers in line with previous years (data available since 2023 only).  

Figure 15: Agricultural labour by working time, 2025 and five-year average (2020-2024). Note data for 2022 were estimated based on administrative data and results in adjacent years.