The survey also shows that 90% of the farms are under five hectares, meaning they are subsistence farms.
Agriculture continues to be a key sector for both the Romanian and European Union economies, despite a steadily declining contribution to GDP and declining profitability. The contribution of the agricultural sector to Romania’s GDP was 3.9% in 2023 and 3.2% in 2024, and in the EU it was 1.3% in 2023. At the local level, the sector faces systemic challenges: outdated technology, low productivity, an aging workforce and increasing climate risks, such as soil degradation and water shortages.
The report shows that our country is one of the most important in the European agricultural sector, given that 23% of the total agricultural workforce in the EU is concentrated here (1.77 million jobs – the highest share in the Union). 44.3% of farmers are over 65 years old, which highlights an acute problem regarding the aging of the workforce. An interesting fact revealed in the analysis is the percentage of women working in agriculture in Romania, 19% in 2021, being the highest in the EU.
“A vital sector for Romania, with an impressive workforce, agriculture had a less than remarkable year last year. Romania’s National Institute of Statistics shows that agriculture had a negative contribution of -0.4% to GDP, with a share of 3.2% and a decrease in activity volume of 10.5%. In addition, investments in FoodTech and AgriTech in Central and Eastern Europe decreased by almost 55% in 2023, due to the increase in interest rates and the difficult economic climate,” said Oana Craioveanu, CEO & Co-founder of Impact Hub Bucharest & Startarium.
EIT Food is the largest food innovation initiative in Europe, built as a consortium of key players in the food industry, startups, research centres and universities from across Europe. It is one of nine Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an independent EU body created in 2008 to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe. EIT Food aims to “future-proof” the food system, which means building an inclusive community that “supports innovation at all stages of business development”.
Impact Hub Bucharest (EIT Food representative in Romania), in partnership with Startarium, launched the fourth edition of the report on Romanian AgriFood startups, which provides a comprehensive analysis of the ecosystem: “Romanian AgriFoodStartupsOverview Report 2024”.