Total support to agriculture reached record levels of $851 billion per year during 2020-22 for the 54 countries covered by a new Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2023 report shows the historically high level of support is nearly a 2.5-fold increase compared to two decades ago, though still behind the overall growth of production. Support remains highly concentrated in a few large producing economies, with China, India, the United States and the European Union representing 36 percent, 15 percent, 14 percent and 13 percent of total support provided, respectively. Individual producers received $630 billion per year in positive support over the 2020-22 period. The report tracks global government support provided to the agricultural sector, including subsidies, tariffs and other “market-distorting forms of support.”
OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann says, “Such measures alter trade, investment and the location of production, undermining both the value of market access and the benefits of competitive markets and open trade.”