In the European Union (EU), there were 10.8 million farms in 2013 working 174.6 million hectares of land (the utilised agricultural area). Between 2003 and 2013, slightly more than 4 million holdings disappeared in the EU, while the total area used for agriculture remained almost stable. This means increasing agricultural concentration, with the average area per holding growing by 38%, from 11.7 hectares in 2003 to 16.1 hectares in 2013.

Of the 10.8 million farms in the EU, almost 3.5 million (31.1%) were managed by persons aged 65 or over and a further 2.6 million (24.7%) by managers aged between 55 and 64, while those younger than 35 accounted for 6.0% of all farm managers.