Sweden! - International Federation of Agricultural Journalists

10 SOLUTIONS FOR A GREEN FUTURE
is about 78,500 people, of which 51,000
work in agriculture. This corresponds to
1.8% and 1.5% of total employment. The
largest portion of people engaged in agriculture
is found on the island of Gotland.
The average Swedish farmer is between
55–59 years of age with 22% older than 65
and only 5% younger than 35.
The price of agricultural land has
increased constantly since Sweden joined
the European Union (EU) in 1995. The
average price in 2008 was 40,200 SEK per
hectare but there is a very wide variation
between the intense farming areas in the
south and the thinly populated and less
attractive land in the north. In the southern
counties, prices between 200,000 and
300,000 SEK per hectare are now common
(2010).
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Also, the rent for agricultural land has
increased in the same way between 1994
and 2008 by an average of 64%. In the
south, the increase has been 85% during
the same period.
The contribution of agriculture to the
GNP was 17.1 billion SEK in 2007. This
is equivalent to 0.5% and there has been a
constant decline in this amount for many
years.
Sweden imported agricultural products
and foodstuffs for 93 billion SEK in 2009,
which is about 10% of total imports. Exports
amounted to 50 billion SEK or about
5% of total export value. Trade in agricultural
commodities and foods are mainly
with other EU countries. Outside the EU,
Norway and USA are the major trading
partners.
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http://www.jordbruksverket.se/swedishboardofagriculture/statistics.4.68dc110a12390c69dde8000500.
html Swedish Board of Agriculture, Yearbook of Agricultural Statistics 2010 with a summary in English.