AGRICULTURAL INCOME IN 2008

In France, as in EU-27, the year 2008 is marked by abundant crops of grain and falling prices. In contrast the prices of livestock products put up sharply. In total, the value of agricultural production increases by 3.8%. Farmers' costs are burdened by the rising price of animal feed, and by soaring prices for fertilizer and fuel oil. Consequently, agricultural factor income per labour unit fall sharply: -11% in real terms in 2008, after two years of exceptional growth. The entrepreneurial income per unpaid annual work unit fall by 20% in real terms in 2008, when it had increased by 17% in 2007. The balance of foreign trade in food products improved for the third consecutive year, reaching 9.5 billion euros in 2008.