In 2023, 17.2% of the EU’s holdings utilised agricultural area (UAA) was managed by female managers. Where women do manage farms, they are more likely to operate relatively small holdings, although generational renewal may gradually increase women’s participation in larger and more commercially oriented farming systems.
The distribution of female farm managers was broadly balanced around the EU average. Of the 241 regions at level 2 of the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS 2), with available data, 134 reported a share of UAA managed by female farm managers below the EU average (55.6% of all regions with available data). At the lower end of the distribution, the Dutch region of Friesland recorded the lowest share (2.7%; around 6 000 hectares (ha) were managed by female farm managers), while the highest share was observed in the northern Austrian region of Oberösterreich (42.5%; around 211 600 ha were managed by female farm managers).
In 2023, 25 NUTS 2 regions had a share of UAA managed by female farm managers of at least 28.5% (darkest shade on the map). Relatively high shares of UAA managed by female farm managers were concentrated in Italy (11 regions, including Molise which recorded the highest share in Italy), Greece (4 regions, with the highest share in Voreio Aigaio), Austria (4 regions, with the highest share in Oberösterreich) and Spain (3 regions, with the highest share in Principado de Asturias).
At the lower end of the distribution, 12 EU regions had a share of UAA managed by female farm managers below 5.0%. This group included 10 of the 12 regions in the Netherlands, Åland in Finland (3.6%) and Syddanmark in Denmark (4.9%).
The United Nations has declared 2026 as the International Year of the Woman Farmer. The designation highlights the essential role women play across the farm-to-fork chain, to raise awareness, and promote actions that will close gender gaps and improve women’s livelihoods.
Would you like to know more about agriculture statistics in EU regions?
You can explore the agriculture sections in the Eurostat regional yearbook – 2026 edition and in the interactive publication Regions in Europe.
O artigo foi publicado originalmente em Eurostat.
