Total Farm Incomes Up 13%

Defra released the first estimates of total income from farming (TIFF) recently and it is reported to have risen by £708m or 13% in real terms between 2012 and 2013 to £5,464m. In terms of annual work units (AWU) of entrepreneurial labour the increase was 15% in real terms to £28,426 in 2013. The difference is due to a decline in the numbers of farmers and other unpaid workers.

Key contributors to the increase were milk by £505m, potatoes by £210m, and barley by £199m. The increases were offset by a decrease in value of oilseeds of £245m and an increase in the cost of animal feed of £740m.

Agriculture's contribution to GDP measures as gross value added at basic price increased by 7% or £604m to £9,222m. Intermediate consumption increased by £892m to £16,492m mainly due to an increase in the price of animal feed an additional increase in the value of seed. There was a reduction in the number of employees but a small increase in pay of £23m to compensate. The total compensation of employees in 2013 was £2,379m.

Compared to 1994 total income from farming per AWU of entrepreneurial labour has increased by 10% compared to a 15% fall in total income from farming.

GDP Revised Upward To 0.7%

GDP increased by 0.7% in volume terms between Q1 and Q2 2013 according to the ONS. The latest figure is a revision upwards of 0.1% on the previously published estimate due to small revisions in the main industrial groupings. The annual comparison shows an increase of 1.5%.

At current prices GDP increased by 0.4% between Q1 and Q2. All expenditure components increased giving a 0.7% and compensation of employees increased by 2.4% in Q2, the highest since Q3 2000. The increase partly reflects increases in bonuses in April.

GDP Decline Revised To 0.4%

GDP decline in the UK between Q1 and Q2 2012 was revised from 0.5% to 0.4% in the Quarterly National Accounts statistics bulletin from the ONS. The production industries fell by 0.7%, previously estimated at 0.9%, manufacturing output was estimated at 0.9% and was revised up to 0.8%. The service industries decline of 0.1% was unrevised.Construction was revised up from 3.9% to 3%. Household consumption fell by 0.2% revised from 0.4%. Compensation of employees increased by 0.2% revised down from 1.2%.

Headline GDP Down By 0.2%

UK gross domestic product fell by 0.2% in volume terms in the fourth quarter of 2011 according to a statistical bulletin from the ONS.

Of the output components of GDP output in the production industries fell by 1.4% within which manufacturing fell by 0.8%. Services remained unchanged but the construction sector fell by 0.5%. Agricultural output decreased by 1.5% in Q4 compared with a decrease of 0.6% in Q3 2011. Output of business services and finance increased by 0.1%. Government and other increased by 0.3%.

Household expenditure increased by 0.5% quarter on quarter while gross capital formation fell by 7.6%. The income components of growth and contributions to growth show that employee compensation fell by 0.3%.