Scottish farm business income: annual estimates 2023-2024
Farm business level estimates of average incomes for 2023-2024. An Accredited Official Statistics publication for Scotland.
First published: 3 April 2025.
Data and methodology
Data source
Estimates of average farm business income in Scotland come from the Scottish Farm Business Survey. This is an annual survey of around 400 commercial-sized farms. Farms which are part-time, or with economic activity below approximately £20,000 are not included. Farms that do not receive support, such as pigs, poultry, and horticulture, are not included in the survey.
Data from the June Agricultural Census is used to weight the farm business income estimates. The FBS is representative of around 10,300 farms in Scotland, which in 2023-24 is around 23% of all farms included in the 2023 June Agricultural Census. These farms cover 67% of Scotland's agricultural land, account for 47% of the Scottish farming labour force, and produce 75% of total standard output. The survey is designed for coverage of commercial sized farms, and represents 94% of standard output from these farm types.
How to access background or source data
The data collected for this publication are available through supporting documents.
Methodology
More detailed methodology information is available in the Scottish farm business incomes: Methodology document.
Related statistics
Similar surveys take place in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Full results for the United Kingdom are available online:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/agriculture-in-the-united-kingdom
Similar data is collected by the European Union through the European Commission Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN):
European Commission | Agri-food data portal | Farm economics (europa.eu)