Belgium's farmers are greying and young people seem to be turning away from a profession that is demanding, time-consuming and often pays too little, a trend reflected in the latest data from the national statistical institute.
According to Statbel, 22.5% of the nearly 36,000 farms in Belgium in 2022 were headed by a farm manager aged over 65, and 32.3% by a manager aged between 55 and 64. In other words, almost 55% of farm managers were aged 55 or over.
On the other hand, under 6% of farm managers were under 35.
Belgian farms also stand out on another count: whereas in Europe as a whole, 68.4% of farm managers are men, in Belgium the rate rises to 85.2%.
Yet another particularity of Belgian agriculture is the percentage devoted to livestock farming (44.1%). In the European Union, Belgium is second only to the Netherlands (53.1%), Austria (55%), the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (62.8%) and Ireland (88.4%) in this regard.
“However, the importance of this type of farming has tended to decline more rapidly than in the European Union as a whole" between 2010 and 2020, Statbel adds with a note of caution.
