How much does a French farmer earn? Well, it all depends, but for many over the past decade real incomes have declined.

The average income of French farmers last year was €20,100, an increase of 66% on 2009 following a cumulative fall of 46% between 2007/09.

Cereal farmers seemed to have been the main gainers, primarily as a result of the embargo on cereal exports imposed by Russia as a result of the severe drought in the country.

There were other major differences between farming activities, as can be seen from the following table, which also compares the position in 2010 with the picture in 1992.

It shows that overall there has been a meagre increase of 5% in farming incomes since 1992, and that in some activities there has actually been a real decline.

Last year, the incomes of all farmers increased over that for 2009, with the exception of AOC wine growers, which fell by 7%, although it is noteworthy from the figures that there is frequently a substantial variation in farming incomes from one year to the next.

The following figures include farming subsidies from the European Union.