The “France farm” displays a good result for 2023. The value of French agricultural production would still be close to the symbolic bar of 100 billion euros, at 95.5 billion euros, according to the forecast agricultural account, published Wednesday December 20 by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee). Even if this figure marks a slight decline of 0.8% compared to 2022, it reflects a stabilization at the highest level after two years of strong growth driven by the surge in prices of agricultural raw materials.
In the context of the crises linked to Covid-19 and geopolitics, production in value, driven by prices, increased by 8.8% in 2021 then by 16.6% in 2022. This year, speculation on wheat, corn and oils, fueled by Covid-19 then the war in Ukraine, has dropped a tone. The return of the pendulum particularly affects cereal growers. In France, cereal prices are expected to decrease by 28% in 2023, after an increase of 31% in 2021 and 24% in 2022. World harvests announced at record levels have affected prices.
Prices are also trending downward for wines, excluding champagne, and potatoes. Conversely, certain fruits and vegetables such as apples, pears, artichokes, onions, cauliflower, carrots and salads have become more expensive either due to lack of availability or due to an increase in demand. .
Good harvests
Overall, INSEE estimates the drop in crop production prices to be −10.1% in 2023. However, the weather conditions, less penalizing than those of summer 2022, have favored a rebound in volumes. Cereal harvests are expected to increase by 5.8% and the harvest by 3.3%. In this context of good harvests, which also concerns oilseeds and potatoes, the decline in value of plant production would be limited to 4.6%, to 56.6 billion euros.
The picture for animal production is, for its part, completely opposite to that for plant production. The price increase continued at +7.9% and more than offset the inexorable decline in volumes (–2.5%). The most marked increases were those of pork (21.7%), dairy products (7.1%), such as chicken and eggs (5.8%). According to INSEE, the value of animal production would therefore increase, in 2023, by 5.2%, to 38.2 billion euros.
If the “France farm” presents a good valuation, the overall situation of agricultural operations was less favorable in 2023. The increase in costs, in particular linked to the supply of energy and fertilizers, continued during the he past year, even if the rate of progression was lower than in 2022. The average income of farmers should therefore logically suffer. This is illustrated by the decline in the indicator called “gross value added of the agricultural branch per active person in real terms”, which is expected to fall by 9% this year after an increase of 13.1% in 2021 and 9. 6% in 2022. Knowing that the image of French agriculture drawn by INSEE is general and does not describe the diversity of cases of farms spread across the national territory.