section_path: Sectors/Agriculture
section_name: Agriculture
paragraph_text: Agriculture
  
  Agriculture in the UK is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards. The country produces around 65% of its food needs. The self-sufficiency level was just under 50% in the 1950s, peaking at 80% in the 1980s, before declining to its present level at the turn of the 21st century.
  
  Agriculture added gross value of £12.18 billion to the economy in 2018, and around 467,000 people were employed in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing. It contributes around 0.5% of the UK's national GDP. Around two-thirds of production by value is devoted to livestock, and one-third to arable crops. The agri-food sector as a whole (agriculture and food manufacturing, wholesale, catering, and retail) was worth £120 billion and accounts for 4 million jobs in the UK.
  
  Agriculture in the UK is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards. The country produces around 65% of its food needs. The self-sufficiency level was just under 50% in the 1950s, peaking at 80% in the 1980s, before declining to its present level at the turn of the 21st century.
  
  Agriculture added gross value of £12.18 billion to the economy in 2018, and around 467,000 people were employed in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing. It contributes around 0.5% of the UK's national GDP. Around two-thirds of production by value is devoted to livestock, and one-third to arable crops. The agri-food sector as a whole (agriculture and food manufacturing, wholesale, catering, and retail) was worth £120 billion and accounts for 4 million jobs in the UK.
  
  Agriculture in the UK is intensive, highly mechanised, and efficient by European standards. The country produces around 65% of its food needs. The self-sufficiency level was just under 50% in the 1950s, peaking at 80% in the 1980s, before declining to its present level at the turn of the 21st century.
  
  Agriculture added gross value of £12.18 billion to the economy in 2018, and around 467,000 people were employed in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing. It contributes around 0.5% of the UK's national GDP. Around two-thirds of production by value is devoted to livestock, and one-third to arable crops. The agri-food sector as a whole (agriculture and food manufacturing, wholesale, catering, and retail) was worth £120 billion and accounts for 4 million jobs in the UK.