Agriculture in the UK Economy

Abstract

Exaggerated claims have often been made for the importance of agriculture to the UK economy. It is sometimes talked of as the country’s biggest industry. In some ways it is; farming occupies four-fifths of the UK land area, clearly more than other types of production, although it could be argued that tourism and recreation in the countryside are spread even more extensively. On the other hand, agriculture accounts for only a small fraction of the nation’s working population, about one worker in fifty. Obviously no single figure can adequately represent agriculture’s relative national importance; it will depend on which particular aspect of the sector’s performance is under consideration and it varies according to whether output, use of resources, trade, environmental impact or exchequer support is taken as the yardstick. In rural areas it is obviously more important than at the national level. Agriculture can also be seen differently when considered from a dynamic longer-term viewpoint. For example, it has often been given a prominent expansionary role as an import-saving industry out of proportion with the contribution it normally makes to the national economy.