Results of the Agricultural Census 2020
(edition 2022)

Key results of the 2020 Farm Structure Survey in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania

 

Foto by Pixabay.com


According to the requirements of the EU legislation, the Baltic States, same as other EU countries, had to carry out an Agricultural Census in 2020. It had to be ensured that only the smallest agricultural holdings, which together possess no more than 2 per cent of the total area of utilised agricultural land or keep no more than 2 per cent of the total number of livestock units, would be not included into the survey. A uniform EU methodological statistical data preparation system enables a comparison between Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian agricultural indicators.

 

Main indicators of agriculture, 2020

 

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Number of farms

11,369

68,983

132,076

Total land area, thous. ha

1,210.5

2,830.0

3,085.9

Utilised agricultural area, thous. ha

975.3

1,969.1

2,914.5

Number of livestock units, thous.

292.4

474.5

718.3

Number of farm workers, thous.

30.6

155.3

226.3

Standard output, mln. EUR

862.2

1,330.2

2,299.3

 

Number of farms, 2020

Average farm size by land area, 2020

The 2020 census showed that the number of farms in Lithuania was the largest – by 64 per cent more than in Estonia and Latvia taken together, while the aver­age farm size in Lithuania was the smallest. In Estonia, on the contrary, the number of farms was the smallest, while the average size of a farm was almost four times as large as in Lithuania. The comparison of 2020 and 2010 data has revealed decline in the number of farms in Lithuania (by 34 per cent) and Latvia (17.3 per cent) and a somewhat more distinct decline (about 25 per cent) in Estonia. However, in terms of utilised agricultural area, the average farm size was on the increase in all three Baltic States.

 

Number of farms and their average size

 

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

2010

2020

2010

2020

2010

2020

Number of farms

15,155

11,369

83,386

68,983

199,913

132,076

Average farm size by land area, ha

79.1

106.5

34.5

41.0

15.0

23.4

Average farm size by agricultural land, ha

62.8

86.0

23.2

29.6

13.8

22.2

 

Distribution of land area, 2020
Per cent

Created with Highcharts 6.1.480.669.694.415.122.13.64.15.71.40.22.60.5Utilised agricultural landForestOther landUnutilised agricultural landEstoniaLatviaLithuania0255075100

 

Distribution of land area, 2020

 

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

area, thous. ha

share, per cent

area, thous. ha

share, per cent

area, thous. ha

share, per cent

Total land area

1,210.5

100

2,830.0

100

3,085.9

100

Utilised agricultural land

975.3

80.6

1,969.1

69.6

2,914.5

94.4

Unutilised agricultural land

2.4

0.2

72.9

2.6

16.5

0.5

Forests

183.1

15.1

626.2

22.1

110.9

3.6

Other land

49.7

4.1

161.8

5.7

43.9

1.4

 

The largest relative share (94.4 per cent) of utilised agricultural area, compared to the total land area of farms, was found in Lithuania, while the largest relative share (24.6 per cent) of forest area – in Latvia, where utilised agricultural area made up only 6.4 per cent of the total land area of farms.

 

Structure of farms by utilised agricultural area, 2020
Per cent

Created with Highcharts 6.1.48.547.150.126.219.019.920.314.212.99.05.44.79.44.83.99.34.14.113.64.54.03.70.90.4< 5 ha5–< 10 ha10–< 20 ha20–< 30 ha30–< 50 ha50–< 100 ha100–< 500 ha≥ 500 haEstoniaLatviaLithuania05101520253035404550556065707580859095100

 

Farms by area of utilised agricultural land, 2020

Farm groups

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

number of farms, thous.

utilised agricultural land, thous. ha

number of farms, thous.

utilised agricultural land, thous. ha

number of farms, thous.

utilised agricultural land, thous. ha

Total

11.1

975.3

69.0

1,969.2

132.1

2,914.5

< 5

1.0

2.8

32.6

70.0

66.2

157.0

5–< 10

2.9

21.2

13.1

93.4

26.3

185.9

10–< 20

2.3

32.0

9.8

138.1

17.1

238.9

20–< 30

1.0

24.4

3.7

89.8

6.2

150.7

30–< 50

1.0

40.7

3.3

124.7

5.1

196.1

50–< 100

1.0

73.4

2.8

196.9

5.4

384.8

100–< 500

1.5

338.5

3.1

645.9

5.3

1,042.8

≥ 500

0.4

442.3

0.6

610.4

0.5

558.3

 

Structure of farms by area of utilised agricultural land, 2020
Per cent

Farm groups

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

share of farms

share of utilised agricultural land

share of farms

share of utilised agricultural land

share of farms

share of utilised agricultural land

Total

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

< 5

8.5

0.3

47.1

3.6

50.1

5.4

5–< 10

26.2

2.2

19.0

4.7

19.9

6.4

10–< 20

20.3

3.3

14.2

7.0

12.9

8.2

20–< 30

9.0

2.5

5.4

4.6

4.7

5.2

30–< 50

9.4

4.2

4.8

6.3

3.9

6.7

50–< 100

9.3

7.5

4.1

10.0

4.1

13.2

100–< 500

13.6

34.7

4.5

32.8

4.0

35.7

≥ 500

3.7

45.4

0.9

31.0

0.4

19.2

 

The farm structure by utilised agricultural area in Lithuania and Latvia was similar, while in Estonia there were more small farms. In Estonia farms with under 5 hectares of utilised agricultural area made only 8.5 per cent, while in Lithuania and Latvia – 50.1 and 47.1 per cent of all farms. In Lithuania, 21.5 per cent of farms fell within medium-sized groups, i.e. from 10 to 50 ha of utilised agricultural area, while in Estonia and Latvia – 38.7 and 24.4 per cent respectively. The largest number of farms (3.7 per cent of all farms) with more than 500 hectares of utilised agricultural area was recorded in Estonia. In Latvia, such farms made up 0.9, in Lithuania – 0.4 per cent of all farms.

 

Structure of crop area, 2020

Estonia Latvia Lithuania
Created with Highcharts 6.1.454%54%7%7%12%12%26%26%1%1%CerealsLeguminous cropsIndustrial cropsForage cropsOther crops

 

Created with Highcharts 6.1.459%59%3%3%12%12%24%24%2%2%CerealsLeguminous cropsIndustrial cropsForage cropsOther crops

 

Created with Highcharts 6.1.464%64%6%6%13%13%12%12%5%5%CerealsLeguminous cropsIndustrial cropsForage cropsOther crops

 

Crop area, 2020
Thous. ha

 

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Crop area, total

683.1

1,276.0

2,175.9

Cereals

370.1

753.7

1,390.3

Leguminous crops

49.4

43.7

134.4

Potatoes

3.3

18.0

15.2

Sugar beet

-

-

15.1

Fodder roots

0.3

-

0.2

Industrial crops

79.8

151.4

286.5

Field vegetables and strawberries

2.7

8.1

9.2

Forage crops

174.4

299.3

260.4

Other crops

3.1

1.8

64.7

 

Structure of crop area, 2020
Per cent

 

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Crop area, total

100.0

100.0

100.0

Cereals

54.2

59.1

63.9

Leguminous crops

7.2

3.4

6.2

Sugar beet

0.5

1.4

0.7

Potatoes

-

-

0.7

Fodder roots

0.0

0.0

0.0

Industrial crops

11.7

11.9

13.2

Field vegetables and strawberries

0.4

0.6

0.4

Forage crops

25.5

23.5

11.9

Other crops

0.5

0.1

3.0

 

Crop structure in Estonia and Latvia was similar: the largest area (more than half of the total crop area) was covered with cereals, somewhat smaller (about quarter) – forage crops, even smaller (about 11 per cent) – industrial plants. In Lithuania 63.9 per cent of the total crop area was covered with cereals, 13 per cent – industrial plants, 11.9 per cent – forage crops, 6 per cent – leguminous crops.

 

Number of farm animals, 2020

 

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

number of farms

number of farm animals, thous.

number of farms

number of farm animals, thous.

number of farms

number of farm animals, thous.

Cattle

2,619

261.2

16,403

415.6

37,284

656.7

of which dairy cows

1,082

86.1

1,2009

139.3

28,949

243.3

Pigs

73

308.7

3,341

327.1

8,376

540.6

Sheep

1,182

75.2

3,008

121.2

8,029

160.5

Goats

230

3.8

2,112

13.1

2,518

12.8

Poultry

1,402

2,097.3

10,115

5,806.6

48,234

10,613.4

Rabbits

72

0.4

x

43.5

5858

101.2

Beehives

736

10.6

x

104.1

10,510

193.9

 

In 2020, more livestock of all types was kept in Lithuania than in Estonia or Latvia, except for goats: there were more goats in Latvia than in Lithuania. Latvia outnumbered Estonia in all types of livestock. In Lithuania, farms keeping cattle made up about 28 per cent of all farms. In Latvia, 23.8 per cent of farms kept cattle, in Estonia – 23 per cent.

 

Average number of cattle per farm, 2020

Average number of farm animals per farm, 2020

 

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Cattle

99.7

25.3

17.6

of which dairy cows

79.6

11.6

8.4

Pigs

4,228.8

97.9

64.5

Sheep

63.6

40.3

20.0

Goats

16.5

6.2

5.1

Poultry

1,495.9

574.1

220.0

Rabbits

5.6

x

17.3

Beehives

14.4

x

18.4

 

Nonetheless, cattle farms were the largest in Estonia, where the average number of cattle per cattle farm was 99.7, in Latvia – 25 in Lithuania – 17.6.

Pig farms were the largest in Estonia. Despite the fact that only 0.6 per cent of all Estonian farms kept pigs, the average number of pigs per farm keeping pigs was 4,228.8. In Latvia and Lithuania, pig farms were much smaller: in Latvia, a pig farm kept, on average, 90 pigs, in Lithuania – 64.5 pigs.

 

Farms by number of cattle, 2020

Farm groups

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

number of farms

number of cattle, thous.

number of farms

number of cattle, thous.

number of farms

number of cattle, thous.

Total

2,619

261.2

16,403

415.6

37,284

656.7

1–2

224

0.4

4,798

7.0

13,927

20.1

3–9

524

2.8

5,222

26.8

12,976

65.4

10–19

402

5.7

2,313

32.0

4,273

57.6

20–29

258

6.2

1,151

27.7

1,731

41.5

30–49

330

12.6

1,062

41.0

1,716

65.6

50–99

380

26.1

993

69.2

1,563

107.1

100–199

501

34.7

577

77.7

733

99.6

200–299

86

21.2

128

31.1

169

40.8

≥ 300

171

151.5

159

103.1

196

159

 

Farms by number of pigs, 2020

Farm groups

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

number of farms

number of pigs, thous.

number of farms

number of pigs, thous.

number of farms

number of pigs, thous.

Iš viso

73

308.7

3,341

144.5

8,376

540.5

1–9

9

0

3,113

8.4

7,927

24.0

10–49

9

0.2

178

3.2

374

6.2

50–99

*

*

10

0.6

23

1.4

100–199

4

0.6

5

0.7

7

1.1

200–399

4

1.1

6

2

6

1.5

400–999

*

*

x

x

7

4.0

1,000–1,999

4

6.4

x

x

6

8.3

≥ 2,000

38

298.8

x

x

26

494.0

 

Structure of farms by type of farming, 2020

Estonia Latvia Lithuania
Created with Highcharts 6.1.453%53%24%24%7%7%16%16%Field cropsGrazing livestockMixed cropping and livestock farmingOther type of farming

 

Created with Highcharts 6.1.461%61%18%18%11%11%10%10%Field cropsGrazing livestockMixed cropping and livestock farmingOther type of farming

 

Created with Highcharts 6.1.443%43%15%15%17%17%25%25%Field cropsGrazing livestockMixed cropping and livestock farmingOther type of farming

 

 

Number of farms by type of farming, 2020

Type of farming

Estonia

Latvia

Lithuania

Total

11,369

68,983

132,076

Field crops

6071

42,159

56,963

Horticulture

168

846

5,756

Perennial crops

288

1227

1,161

Grazing livestock

2,726

12,397

20,122

Granivores

234

1,957

832

Mixed cropping

210

2,077

22,305

Mixed livestock farming

142

958

3,013

Mixed cropping and livestock farming

750

7,362

21,851

Non-classified farms

780

-

73

 

In 2020, in the Baltic States, the structure of farms by type of farming was not homogeneous: the largest relative share of farms that specialise in field crops was in Latvia – as much as 61 per cent of all farms, while in Estonia and Lithuania such farms made up 53 and 43 per cent of all farms. In Estonia, about a quarter of all farms specialised in grazing livestock, in Latvia and Lithuania, such farms made up 18 and 15.2 per cent. Meanwhile, mixed cropping and livestock farms were the most popular in Lithuania, where such farms made up about 16.5 per cent of all farms; in Latvia, they made up 10.7, in Estonia – 6.6 per cent of all farms.


More:

Estijos statistikos duomenų bazė

Latvijos statistikos duomenų bazė