Performance of agriculture (Economic accounts for agriculture, 2022, second estimate)

The output of agriculture approximated 4 thousand billion forints in 2022, which was 17% higher than a year earlier. The growth resulted from a 42% increase in prices. Crop production contributed to the performance by 57% and livestock production by 37%, the value of output of the former was up by 9.3% and that of the latter by 33% compared to 2021. The volume of gross value added decreased by 37%, and by 11% at current prices. Hungary had a share of 2.1% of the EU’s total agricultural output in 2022.

Owing to the weather with little precipitation and the severe drought that developed by the summer months, there was a decrease in the yield of all crops. A significant rise in expenditure hindered the performance of livestock production, too.

Livestock production volume down by 6.1% and crop production volume by 27%

Because of the extreme weather and the shrinking of harvested arable land area, output decreased in all the product groups of the crop production sector in 2022, with the exception of only a few crop species – peach and other fresh fruits.

  • The volume of cereals became 36% lower compared to the low base in 2021. The production of maize decreased by 57%, that of wheat by 18% and the production of barley by 10% out of the main cereals in Hungary.
Figure 1
Total harvested production and average yield of maize

  • The volume of industrial crops declined by 28%, the harvest results of sunflower, accounting for a large part of the crop group, by 29% and those of rape, tobacco, sugar beet and soya, crops with a smaller share, by 31%, 46%, 32% and 19%, respectively.

  • The production of horticultural products diminished by 8.1% and that of forage plants by 18%.

  • The volume of fruits was 1.6% smaller. The production of apple – making up a substantial part of the sector – went down by 39% and that of pear by 25%, while the production of peach – because of the low base owing to the crop failure caused by the frost in the previous year – increased by 76%.

The total volume of output of live animals and animal products was lower in 2022 than one year earlier. Veterinary emergencies – e.g. African swine fever, avian influenza – and unfavourable economic circumstances that developed because of a significant rise in expenditure both influenced the output of livestock production.

  • The volume of live animals became 8.0% smaller, within which the volume of poultry decreased by 10%, that of cattle by 8.0%, the volume of pigs by 6.0% and that of other animals by 5.0%.

  • The quantity of animal products became 2.0% lower as a whole. The quantity of milk collected in 2022 was 1,683 million kilograms according to preliminary data, 3.2% less than in the previous year.

Total output of agriculture grows and productivity goes on lessening

The value of outputThe change in the value and volume of agricultural output can be determined based on the observation of annual harvest results and livestock.[1] of the agricultural sector (including services and secondary activities) at current basic prices was 3,998 billion forints in 2022, of which crop production had a share of 2,282 billion forints and livestock production 1,478 billion forints. The proportions of the basic activities (57% and 37%, respectively) were practically unchanged in the last ten years apart from fluctuations of a few percentage points.

Figure 2
Total value of output of agriculture

The price index of the total agricultural output was 42% higher and its volume 18% lower in 2022 than in 2021, so its value increased by 17% as a whole compared to that in the previous year. Within the total price index, the price level of crop products was up by 49% and that of animals and animal products by 42%.

The volume of intermediate consumption diminished by 5.5%, its price index grew by 43%, so its value was 35% higher in total than in the previous year. The fewer agricultural products produced with higher expenditure led to a decline in the productivity of agriculture, which had an unfavourable effect on value added. Gross value added (1,226 billion forints) decreased by 37% at the previous year’s prices and by 11% at current prices.

Factor income was 4.7% and entrepreneurial income 1.8% higher than in the previous year. Labour input in agriculture was reduced by 2.3%. Real factor income per work unit (indicator ‘A’) rose by 9.2%.

Figure 3
Volume and price changes in agriculture compared to previous year, 2022

The largest contributors to the decrease in the volume of output were cereals and industrial crops (with 11 and 4.1 percentage points, respectively) out of agricultural product groups.

Figure 4
Contribution to change in volume of output of agriculture, 2022

Output of agriculture in the European Union (EU27_2020) increases and is above trend

The total value of output of agriculture in the European UnionFirst estimates (of November 2022) in euros. [2] was 537 billion euros at current basic prices in 2022 according to the first preliminary data, 19% more than a year earlier. The growth was due to a 23% rise in the price level, along with a decrease of 3.0% in volume.

  • The value of output of crop production expanded by 15%. There was an increase in the output of all product groups, the largest one in that of potatoes and of cereals. Along with a decrease in the harvested production but because of a substantial rise in the price level, the former became 29% and the latter 28% higher.

  • Livestock production was 27% higher than in the previous year. The output of live animals and animal products both went up, and merely that of other animal products remained unchanged, within the latter.

Real factor income per work unit (indicator ‘A’) rose by 13% in 2022, due to a growth of 17% in factor income and a decrease of 1.8% in labour input.

  • The value of the indicator augmented to the highest extent in Germany and Estonia and decreased at the highest rates in Romania and Slovakia.

The value of output of agriculture in the European Union was 24% above the trend of the last ten years. Output grew and was above the trend in all the countries.

  • Among the member countries, the largest growths compared to the previous year were in Estonia and Lithuania.
Figure 5
Change in value of output compared to previous year and trend value, in member states of the European Union, 2022

Hungary had a share of between 2.0% and 2.2% of the EU’s total agricultural output in the last ten years. Livestock production contributed to the EU’s output by 2.0% and crop production by 2.2%. The proportion of intermediate consumption hardly changed over the previous nine years (2.1% and 2.2%), however, it rose to 2.4% in 2022, so Hungary’s share of gross value added was down by 0.5 percentage point to 1.5%.

Figure 6
Hungary’s share of EU output, by agricultural indicator

Of the EU’s total output, the share of gross value added was 44%, i.e. an expenditure of 56 euros was needed for an output of 100 euros. Greece and Italy had a performance above the proportion of 50%. By contrast, Slovakia, Finland and Belgium remained below 25%. Out of the four member states with a production and output structure similar to Hungary’s, the share of gross value added of total output was the best in Croatia, approximating 50%, while the lowest proportion was observed for Slovakia.

Figure 7
Composition of output*

[1]:↑ The change in the value and volume of agricultural output can be determined based on the observation of annual harvest results and livestock.

[2]:↑ First estimates (of November 2022) in euros.

Further data and information

Methodology

Summary tables (Stadat):

19.1.1.2. Economic accounts for agriculture, at current basic prices
19.1.1.3. Economic accounts for agriculture, volume indices
19.1.1.4. Economic accounts for agriculture, price indices
19.1.1.5. Agricultural labour input

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