Productive and sustainable agriculture

Last updated: 2025

Introduction

The Productive and Sustainable Agriculture indicator measures the proportion of agricultural land in the UK that is managed in a way that is economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and socially responsible. It aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator 2.4.1, which is already published for the UK and therefore is not included as an official statistic within the UK Biodiversity Indicators suite.

SDG indicator 2.4.1 for the UK is available via the FAO SDG Indicators Data Portal. It assesses agricultural sustainability using 11 sub-indicators across three dimensions: economic, environmental and social. This indicator also serves as Headline Indicator 10.1 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), supporting Target 10 on sustainable agriculture.

Further detail

Detailed methods for this indicator are available in the metadata for SDG indicator 2.4.1. It is produced by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The primary data source for this indicator is the set of annual farm business surveys conducted across the four UK countries. While each country carries out its survey every year, there are notable differences in methodology, sample size and area of focus. Additionally, not all data elements are collected annually - topic-specific information is often gathered on a rotational basis or less frequent intervals. These differences pose challenges in producing a unified UK-wide indicator value and there are gaps in what the UK currently reports under SDG indicator 2.4.1.

Under the economic dimension of SDG indicator 2.4.1, three sub-indicators are assessed: land productivity (measured as farm output value per hectare), profitability (measured as net farm income), and resilience (evaluated through the presence of risk mitigation mechanisms). While economic data is generally well-covered across the UK differences in sample sizes and resulting confidence intervals have meant that, to date, only data from England has been reported under these sub-indicators.

The environment dimension of SDG indicator 2.4.1 comprises five sub-indicators: soil health (assessed through the prevalence of soil degradation), water use (measured by variation in water availability), fertilizer pollution risk (evaluated through fertilizer management practices), pesticide risk (based on pesticide management), and biodiversity (measured by the adoption of biodiversity-supportive practices). While some environment data are collected in the UK, they are gathered inconsistently and at varying intervals across the four countries. As a result, no data have been reported to date for soil health or pesticide risk under this indicator. In relation to the biodiversity sub-indicator, the UK does produce a relevant statistic measuring the area of land in agri-environment schemes.

The social dimension of SDG indicator 2.4.1 includes three sub-indicators: decent employment (measured by the wage rate in agriculture), food security (assessed using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale), and land tenure (evaluated through secure tenure rights to land). While data collection across the UK varies in frequency and consistency, the UK reports data for two of the sub-indicators in this dimension. The food security sub-indicator (where the UK reports under a separate SDG indicator 2.1.2) has not been updated since 2019 due to changes in data collection. Although historical data has been submitted under SDG Indicator 2.4.1, it is not currently being updated due to a lack of suitable data sources.

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