Documentation of statistics structure of agricultural and horticultural enterprises

Data description

The statistics contain information on the number of agricultural and horticultural enterprises, land use, and production lines. The statistics provide an overall view of Finnish agricultural and horticultural enterprises by illustrating the structure of farms, ownership and production, as well as the number and age structure of farmers. Data is given by production sector and by region.

The statistics can be used to monitor the development of land use, production lines, and the number of agricultural and horticultural enterprises in Finland.

Classification system

Data is available for the whole of Finland and by ELY Center. Some of the data published is categorised by use agricultural area, production sector, and age or sex of the farmer. The number of farms is also available by municipality.

Sector coverage

The statistics cover agricultural and horticultural enterprises with a financial size of over 2000 EUR.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Utilised agricultural area includes cultivated area, fallow, and other utilised agricultural area.

Agricultural and horticultural enterprises are farms engaged in agricultural or horticultural production, with a financial size, using the Standard Output Method, of over 2000 EUR. This definition was adopted when calculating results from 2013.

Forest land includes forests, reforested fields, and fields processed for reforestation.

Other land includes road land, poorly productive forest land, wasteland, land for building, and other land.

Other agricultural land includes uncultivated agricultural land.

Standard output SO is the average income as Euros per hectare received for agricultural products, or Euros per livestock by farm prices. Prices used in calculating Standard Output are five-year averages. SO does not take subsidies into account, because in agricultural politics of the EU subsidies are separate from production. Thus, subsidies per product cannot be calculated. More information on Standard Output can be found on the Eurostat website: Glossary:Standard output (SO) - Statistics Explained (europa.eu)

The production line is determined in accordance with the agricultural or horticultural enterprise’s most economically significant product. This data is calculated using the SO method. If more than two thirds of a farm’s total output comes from a single product, the farm is included in the production line category corresponding with this product. If no such product exists, the farm’s production line is mixed production.

Farmer is the person primarily responsible for an agricultural or horticultural enterprise owned by a private individual. The number of farmers does not include other workers potentially on farm. Thus, the number of farmers is the same as the number of agricultural and horticultural enterprises owned by private individuals.

Statistical unit

The register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises is used as source data for the statistics. This register collects data on all Finnish farms practicing agriculture or horticulture and with a financial size of over 2000 EUR. Most of the data content of the register is based on data collected from farmers in conjunction with authoritative functions of rural development administrations. Data is supplemented with data collected in other surveys, and every few years, with an update survey aimed at farms in the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises

Statistical population

The results of the statistics describe the number of agricultural and horticultural enterprises in Finland, and changes to these numbers. Since 2013 the statistical population of the statistics has included agricultural and horticultural enterprises with a financial size of over EUR 2000. The financial size is determined by using the Standard Output method.

Finland (561/2014), the Act on Food and Natural Resource Statistics (562/2014), and the Statistics Act (280/2004).

More information: Statistics legislation

Confidentiality is a base principle of statistics and assures the confidential processing of data provided by informants, and the Natural Resources Institute Finland has undertaken to follow this principle.

More information: Privacy policy – Statistics

Release calendar

The disseminations of the Natural Resources Institute Finland are published online on weekdays at 9:00.  Data is public after it has been published on the website.

Release calendar access

Statistical releases calendar | Natural Resources Institute Finland

Quality assurance

The Natural Resources Institute Finland follows the Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of European statistics when compiling statistics. The Code of Practice concern the independence and accountability of statistics authorities, and the quality of processes and published data. The principles are compatible with and supplement the Principles of Official Statistics, agreed upon by the United Nations Statistical Commission. The quality criteria of official statistics in Finland are also compatible with the Code of Practice of European statistics. The principles are also compatible with the European Foundation for Quality Management.

Quality assessment

The quality of the statistics is good, as it is based on Finnish Food Authority’s registers, which are updated yearly.

User needs

Users of the statistics includes the government, research, agricultural and food industries, and unions of agricultural producers. International users of the data include the Statistical Office of the European Union and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
We contact the users of the statistics regularly. According to feedback received, the data mostly meets the needs of the users. 

Overall accuracy and reliability

The data in the statistics is reliable due to extensive data sources. Since 2013, production line data has been calculated. This improves the accuracy and consistency of data on production sectors.  Prior to 2013, data on the production line was based on a declaration from the farmer.

Timeliness

Final information on the statistics is published in the spring of the year following the statistical year. Preliminary data is published at the end of the statistical year.

Comparability - over time

Statistics on the structure of enterprises in 2013 included both agricultural and horticultural enterprises for the first time. Additionally, a new minimum was introduced, and only farms with a financial size of over EUR 2000 are included. Data published prior to this only includes agricultural farms. Thus, statistics from 2013 are not comparable to prior statistics on the structure of agricultural farms. In compiling data for 2013, previous time series for some data were calculated.

Coherence - cross domain

The data is coherent with other statistics based on the register of agricultural and horticultural enterprises.

Source data

Most of the data in the statistics is collected from administrative registers.
Data on animals is collected from animal registers.

Frequency of data collection

Yearly

Data collection

The main source of data for the structure of agricultural and horticultural enterprises is the database of the Administration for Rural Affairs, which is part of the register of rural livelihoods. Data on animals is collected from animal registers. 

Data validation

Data is inspected for possible errors. The quality of data collected from administrative registers is good.

Data compilation

Data is combined in the data compilation process, and the financial sizes and production sectors of farms are calculated.