STAT/13/164
7 November 2013
Pocketbook on agriculture, forestry and fishery statistics
An overview of the agricultural sector in figures
Which Member States are the biggest producers of wheat, maize or barley? How much cow’s milk is collected by
dairies in the EU? Which Member States produce the most drinking milk, cheese, butter or cream? And which
produce the most meat from cattle, pigs or poultry?
Answers to these questions and many more can be found in the 2013 edition of the Pocketbook on agriculture,
forestry and fishery statistics1 issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. This
pocketbook, which is aimed at both generalists and specialists, presents tables and graphs providing an overview
of the agricultural, forestry and fishery sectors in the European Union.
The pocketbook is divided into eight chapters, with the first providing an overview of agriculture in the newest
Member State, Croatia. The remaining chapters provide information on the agricultural census, agricultural
accounts and prices, agricultural production, agro-environment, rural development, forestry and fisheries.
France produces a quarter of cereals in the EU28
In the EU28 in 2012, 285.0 million tonnes of cereals were produced. Since the production of cereals is highly
dependent on weather conditions, it is interesting not only to observe one year, but a longer time period. Looking
back, there was a peak of 320.5 mn tonnes in 2008, then production fell to 301.4 mn in 2009 and 283.5 mn in 2010
and then remained more stable in 2011 and 2012.
Among the 285.0 mn tonnes of cereals produced in the EU28 in 2012, 126.0 mn or 44% was common wheat, 60.1
mn or 21% was grain maize, 55.0 mn or 19% was barley and 9.1 mn or 3% was rye and maslin.
France (68.5 mn tonnes, 24% of total EU28 production) was the largest producer of cereals in the EU28, followed
by Germany (45.4 mn or 16%), Poland (28.5 mn or 10%), the United Kingdom (19.5 mn or 7%), Italy (19.0 mn or
7%) and Spain (17.5 mn or 6%).
France was the main producer of common wheat (28% of total EU28 production), grain maize (26%) and barley
(21%), while Germany (43%) and Poland (35%) were the main producers of rye and maslin.
The United Kingdom largest producer of drinking milk, Germany largest producer of cheese,
cream and butter
In the EU28 in 2012, 140.2 mn tonnes of cow’s milk was collected by dairies. The largest quantity of cow’s milk was
collected in Germany (29.7 mn tonnes, 21% of total EU28 production), followed by France (24.2 mn or 17%), the
United Kingdom (13.6 mn or 10%), the Netherlands (11.7 mn or 8%) and Italy (10.6 mn or 8%).
Among the dairy products produced from this milk, were 32.0 mn tonnes of drinking milk, 9.3 mn of cheese, 2.5 mn
of cream and 2.1 mn of butter. The United Kingdom (6.9 mn tonnes or 22% of total EU28 production), Germany
(5.3 mn or 16%), France (3.6 mn or 11%), Spain (3.5 mn or 11%) and Italy (2.6 mn or 8%) produced the most
drinking milk. Germany was the largest producer of cheese (23%), cream (21%) and butter (23%) in the EU28,
followed by France (21%, 16% and 20% respectively).
Production of cereals, 2012
(1 000 tonnes)
of which
Total cereals
(including rice)
Common wheat*
285 001
125 956
Belgium
3 012
Bulgaria
6 988
Czech Republic
6 596
EU28
Grain maize**
Barley
Rye and maslin
60 079
55 028
9 073
1 835
734
364
3
4 405
1 718
662
22
3 519
928
1 617
148
Denmark
9 460
4 525
75
4 059
384
Germany
45 397
22 352
5 515
10 391
3 878
991
485
-
341
57
Ireland
2 125
708
0
1 261
0
Greece
4 284
478
2 010
326
28
Spain
17 543
4 690
4 261
5 956
297
France
68 458
35 541
15 614
11 348
160
Croatia
2 687
994
1 298
236
2
18 959
3 498
8 195
960
15
Estonia
Italy
Cyprus
91
0
-
67
0
Latvia
2 125
1 540
-
249
124
Lithuania
4 657
2 999
79
742
157
Luxembourg
Hungary
Malta
153
79
2
38
6
10 373
3 965
4 763
996
79
-
-
-
0
-
Netherlands
1 826
1 302
254
206
9
Austria
4 876
1 232
2 351
663
219
Poland
28 544
8 608
3 996
4 180
3 163
Portugal
1 178
55
849
21
15
Romania
12 824
5 276
5 953
986
18
Slovenia
576
188
277
85
3
Slovakia
3 036
1 247
1 170
471
49
Finland
3 659
887
0
1 581
64
Sweden
5 071
2 289
15
1 702
140
19 515
13 261
23
5 522
33
Iceland
16
0
-
15
0
Norway
United Kingdom
1 070
235
:
550
5
Switzerland
922
512
149
185
11
former Yug. Rep.
of Macedonia
460
215
119
90
7
33 025
16 807
4 600
7 100
371
Turkey
*
**
0
:
Common wheat: not including durum wheat, but including spelt
Includes corn cob mix
Less than 500 tonnes
Data not applicable
Data not available
Cow’s milk collected and dairy products, 2012
(1 000 tonnes)
Cows’ milk collected
by dairies
EU28
Selected dairy products:
Drinking milk
Cheese
Cream
Butter
140 150
32 030
9 258
2 530
2 138
3 072
706
78
176
74
Belgium
Bulgaria
514
72
69
2
1
Czech Republic
2 429
609
112
47
27
Denmark
4 927
493
300
65
128
Germany
29 703
5 251
2 161
542
490
665
86
43
27
4
5 379
502
:
21
:
Estonia
Ireland
Greece
637
488
195
14
1
Spain
6 089
3 485
316
153
37
France
24 246
3 607
1 929
412
417
Croatia
602
311
32
27
5
10 598
2 620
1 204
118
101
Cyprus
154
71
19
4
0
Latvia
718
66
31
36
6
1 360
92
112
3
12
Italy
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Hungary
Malta
Netherlands
278
:
:
:
:
1 398
394
73
5
9
:
:
:
:
:
11 675
524
764
9
195
Austria
2 964
770
160
63
34
Poland
9 858
1 511
721
244
165
Portugal
1 861
859
72
18
28
Romania
888
208
67
48
9
Slovenia
535
152
18
13
3
Slovakia
851
317
32
32
9
Finland
2 254
736
102
64
52
Sweden
2 861
867
101
113
37
United Kingdom
13 591
6 932
357
250
145
Switzerland
3 444
481
181
87
51
Montenegro
23
5
1
1
0
7 933
1 250
564
25
40
Turkey
0
:
Less than 500 tonnes
Data not available or confidential
1. Eurostat Pocketbook "Agriculture, forestry and fishery statistics – 2013 edition" can be downloaded in PDF format from
the Eurostat website. Data presented in this News Release could differ from the data published in the pocketbook, due to
updates made after the data extractions used for the publication.
Published by Eurostat Press Office
For further information:
Louise CORSELLI-NORDBLAD
Tel: +352-4301-33 444
eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu
Herta SCHENK
Tel: +352-4301-31 977
herta.schenk@ec.europa.eu
Eurostat News Releases on the internet: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat