EU agricultural outlook: Changing consumer habits to shape agricultural markets by 2030

The Commission published today in the framework of the 2018 EU Agricultural Outlook Conference projections for the European agricultural markets to 2030 for a wide range of agri-food products, including meat, arable crops, milk and dairy products, and fruit and vegetables.

The evolution of agricultural income and the environmental aspects of EU agriculture are also covered, as well as a special focus on the organic production of each sector. The reports conclude among other findings that consumers will become more demanding towards food, its sourcing, and its impact on the environment and climate change. This may result in higher production costs for producers but will also be an opportunity to differentiate their products, adding value while working on their climatic and environmental impact. This will be reflected in alternative production systems, such as local, organic or other certified products being increasingly in demand. In addition to the sectoral outlook reports, the Commission has also made available a new interactive tool with many valuable statistics about agriculture in the EU. It covers among other topics farming income support, environment and climate action, organic production and jobs and growth in rural areas. Interesting facts can be found, for example: EU agri-food exports almost doubled over the last 10 years, agriculture represents 13.5% of total employment in rural areas in 2016 or the share of agricultural land used for organic farming in the EU is 6.7%. More information about the interactive dashboards is online. The outlook reports are all published on this webpage and their presentations at the EU 2018 Agricultural Outlook Conference will be webstreamed here. A summary of their conclusions is available here.