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Agriculture

Agriculture, inflation and drought are holding back Italian production

31.01.2023

In 2022, agricultural production in Italy fell by 0.7%. The negative agricultural year - according to the estimates for the past twelve months released by Istat (the Italian main producer of official statistics in the service of citizens and policy-makers) on 30 January - is the result of the instability on the international markets for agricultural raw materials and energy products. Instability already characterized 2021 and was amplified in 2022 by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which triggered the rise in prices with heavy repercussions on production costs. Climatic factors also have an impact on this increase. Overall, the prices of agricultural products grew by 19.1%; among these, the increases of 40.3% for forage and 39.9% for cereals stand out. The drought that hit Italy in 2022 also heavily affected production volumes, and consequently the quality of many crops, causing a contraction in crops (-2.2% compared to 2021). Significant decreases were recorded, in particular, for olive oil (-17% in volume), cereals (-10.4%) and fodder plants (-5.5%). On the other hand, 2022 was positive for fruit crops (+6.8%) and nursery gardening (+1.1%), while wine maintained the same levels as in 2021. Finally, according to ISTAT estimates, in 2022 the sector zootechnical production volumes remained substantially stable compared to 2021 (0.3%).

Photo by Trent Erwin on Unsplash

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