Data from October 2016. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

Family farms dominate the structure of EU agriculture in terms of their numbers, their contribution to agricultural employment and, to a lesser degree, the area of land that they cultivate. There were 10.8 million farms in the EU-28 in 2013, with the vast majority of these (96.2 %) classified as family farms. Based on the FAO definition, the term ‘family farm’ is hereafter used to refer to any farm under family management where 50 % or more of the regular agricultural labour force was provided by family workers; a more detailed division can be made between those farms where labour was provided exclusively by the family (farms with only family workers) and those where 50 % or more (but not 100 %) of the labour force were family workers.