Factor income at current market prices, which is the result of the developments in agricultural output, subsidies and intermediate consumption, went up by 9.0 per cent when compared to 2014, to €73.2 million, the National Statistics Office said today.

This was brought about by an increase in the gross agricultural production of 2.1 per cent and a drop of 6.9 per cent in the intermediate consumption.

In 2015, entrepreneurial income registered an increase of 11.7 per cent, representing 93.1 per cent of the total factor income. Dependence on subsidies decreased by 5.4 percentage points, from 31.2 per cent in 2014 to 25.8 per cent in 2015.

Total subsidies absorbed by the industry in 2015 amounted to €19.1 million, down by 8.5 per cent. Subsidies directly linked to production declined by 69.1 per cent, mainly due to lower amounts received in respect of crop products. A drop of 4.4 per cent or €0.9 million was registered in the subsidies not directly linked with production.

An increase of 2.1 per cent was registered in the market value of gross agricultural production in 2015. Characterising this result was an increase of 13.3 per cent in the market value of crops. In contrast, drops of 6.2 and 2.6 per cent in the market of value of livestock and animal products were registered respectively.

Intermediate consumption, which measures expenditure in the production process, registered a drop of 6.9 per cent to €66.7 million. This decrease was mainly attributable to a drop in the expenditure on energy and animal feed by 13.1 and 11.1 per cent respectively.

Photograph by Alain Salvary

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