Agriculture: Employment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the number of people leaving the agricultural sector.
Answered by Dame Angela Eagle
Defra produces statistical estimates of the number of people working on commercial [see a below] agricultural holdings in England. Defra does not monitor the numbers leaving and entering the sector separately, therefore estimates show the net change in the workforce.
Estimates in the table below show a decrease of 1.9% in the agricultural workforce in England between June 2024 and 2025.
Agricultural workforce in England at 1 June:
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | % change 2025/2024 |
Total people working on commercial agricultural holdings | 292,401 | 284,797 | 279,493 | -1.9% |
Notes
(a) Commercial holdings are those registered with the Rural Payments Agency for payments or livestock purposes and with significant levels of farming activity.
Full data series for England and the UK are published here:
Agricultural workforce in England at 1 June - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Agricultural Workforce in the United Kingdom at 1 June - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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