According to Eurostat, agriculture remains a significant employer in the EU, with around 8.7 million people (4.2%) working in the agricultural sector in 2020. Most farm managers are older men and the share of farm managers aged below 35 decreased from 7.5% in 2010 to 6.5% in 2020. However, the total number of people of all age groups working in agri-food systems in Europe declined by 3.8% in just two years (2019–2020). Gender inequality in agriculture is also evident in the EU, with only 31.6% of farmers being female in 2020. However, these figures mask substantial differences across Member States, with countries like Romania, Poland and Greece having numerous very small subsistence farms, typically run by older men.
In the Nordic Region, young people are showing a declining interest in working in food systems, resulting in a skewed age and gender distribution. However, differences can be observed between countries. For example, Sweden was the only country that saw an increase in young farm managers between 2010 and 2020. This exception may be linked to support programmes in Sweden funded through the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), such as support for young farmers aged below 40 and start-up support for young farmers.
In addition to unequal age distribution, a gender imbalance also persists in food production sectors. For example, 50,486 men and 16,060 women were working in agriculture, forestry and fisheries in Denmark in 2023, with nearly a quarter of the men aged over 67. A similar gender distribution can be observed in the other Nordic countries, with men accounting for around 75% of the workforce. Female farmers were less common in Denmark than in the other countries (10.9%), while female participation approached parity in Lithuania and Latvia (44.9% and 44.8% respectively). This may be due to the large number of small-scale farms in the Baltic Region linked to the rise and fall of collective farming. Farming is also predominantly a family activity, with most people working on farms being either the owner of the farm or a relative of the owner. In many cases, only the husband or father is registered as the owner, despite the entire family’s involvement in farm work.