According to figures released by the National Statisitcs Office, factor income at current market prices registered a drop of 9.9 per cent in 2011 when compared to the previous year, to stand at €70.5 million.

This income consists of the market value of agricultural output as perceived by producers, plus subsidies received by the sector and net of production costs, capital consumption and production losses.

The main contributors were drops of 47.5 per cent in subsidies on production and of 30.4 per cent in other subsidies paid to farmers. In 2011, entrepreneurial income (-10.9 per cent) absorbed 91.4 per cent of the total factor income. Dependence on subsidies decreased by 9.0 percentage points, from 36.1 per cent in 2010 to 27.0 per cent in 2011.

A €3.8 million increase (+2.9 per cent) in the market value of gross agricultural production was registered in 2011. Characterising this result were increases of 8.8 per cent in animal products, primarily milk (+12.9 per cent), resulting from an increase in the price per kilogram received, and a 4.4 per cent increase in the market value of crop products, mainly on increased potato production (+82.3 per cent). On the other hand, the value of livestock products registered a marginal drop of 0.5 per cent over 2010.

Total intermediate consumption, which indicates the value of operational costs, increased by 4.3 per cent to €70.6 million in 2011. This was primarily due to a rise in the costs of animal feeding stuffs (+9.4 per cent) and fuels (+16.2 per cent).

Total subsidies absorbed by the industry in 2011 amounted to €19.1 million, a drop of 32.5 per cent from €28.2 million in 2010. Subsidies on production declined by €1.6 million, as a result of the expiration of subsidies provided to livestock breeders in 2011. Additionally, a drop of 30.4 per cent or €7.5 million was registered in subsidies not directly linked with production.

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