An improvement in fruit and vegetable prices was responsible for a slight increase in the income generated by Spanish agriculture over the past year.
Preliminary figures released by the ministry of agriculture, food and the environment show that agriculture generated an income of €22.27bn in 2015, a 1.7 per cent increase on the previous year, while the value per annual working unit rose by 4.4 per cent in current terms and 3.8 per cent in constant terms.
The strong performance of the fruit and vegetables sector accounted for all of the extra income. In spite of overall production decreasing by 6.7 per cent, fruit and vegetable prices rose by 7.7 per cent and 18.6 per cent respectively in 2016.
By contrast, income fell in the olive sector fell in 2015 following a 52.2 per cent drop in production due to adverse weather and this being an “off year”. Livestock income was also down by 1.5 per cent as an increase in beef and pork production was offset by lower prices.
