The 2012 agricultural year in the EU was characterised by a stable real agricultural income per labour unit , after the income growths recorded in 2011 (+8%) or in 2010 (+17%). On aggregate, since 2005 the EU-27 agricultural real income per labour unit has increased by 28.5% driven by an increase in factor income (+3%) and a decline in labour force (-20%).  The stable EU 2012 agricultural income masks a sharp contrast between the members states; the highest increases of the agriculture income per worker are expected in Belgium (+27.8%), Latvia (+21%), Lithuania (+17.5%), the Netherlands and Germany (each by +14.9%), while the highest decreases would be recorded in Romania (-27.1%), Poland (-13.7%) and Slovenia (-12.2%).

 In 2012 the increase in the EU-27 value of agricultural output (+2% in real terms) is linked to the performance of the value animal output (+3.1%) and to a lesser extent to that of the crop production (+1.4%).  The rise in value in the crop production is due to an increase in real prices (+7%) offset by a decrease in volumes (-5.2%). The decrease in volume was registered for almost all crops categories: cereals (-6.4%) of which grain maize (-13.4%), wine (-15.4%), potatoes (-14.6%), raw tobacco (-8.5%), protein crops (-12.7%), sugar beet (-3.2%) and fruits (-7.6%). Olive oil was the only product to show an increase (+8%). Producer prices for crops are projected to have increased substantially in real terms in 2012 as compared to 2011, notably for cereals (+9.4%) and oilseeds (+12.0%), while being lower for rice (-13.3%).