Key findings:

Over the period 1990 – 2023, agricultural production in OECD Member countries significantly increased, while environmental performance showed mixed results.

Overall, the trends presented in this report are consistent with increasing efficiency of production, with decreasing input use and pollution per unit of output produced. However, despite improvements in efficiency, this report shows uneven progress across different agri-environmental indicators.

OECD Member countries saw several positive environmental trends since 1990. Agricultural output grew by 33% while agricultural area decreased by almost 11%, and emissions of agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) remained relatively stable. These patterns highlight both significant agricultural productivity gains and improvements in GHG emissions per unit of output. There were also reductions in the median nutrient balance (difference between nutrients added versus removed) in OECD Member countries and an increased nutrient use efficiency during that period.

However, progress was uneven across indicators. Some agri-environmental indicators improved between 2013 and 2023, but their rate of improvement slowed while other indicators deteriorated.

More specifically:

• Trends in input use show noticeable decreases in fertiliser consumption, especially between 2021 and 2023, and an increase in on-farm energy consumption.
• Improvements in nutrient balances per hectare were uneven across OECD Member countries and nutrients. The median and maximum phosphorous balances declined over time while remaining in surplus. The maximum nitrogen balance increased to over 200 kilogrammes per hectare.
• Nutrient use efficiency stabilised, with the median nutrient use efficiency ratio remaining around 0.6 for nitrogen and 0.8 for phosphorus since the mid-2010s.
• GHG emission intensity improvements across OECD Member countries slowed over time, with the median annual rate declining more slowly (-0.4%) than in the 1990s (-1.2%).
• National emissions of agricultural ammonia, a gas which contributes to air and water pollution, decreased in 24 OECD Member countries, but increased in 10 countries.
• Farmland bird populations, an indicator for biodiversity, continued to decline in 22 of the 27 OECD Member countries monitoring this indicator over the same period. This highlights the importance of working towards mitigating the pressures exerted by human activities and other disturbances to biodiversity.