New Pocketbook Of Agricultural Statistics

There are some interesting statistics in the new Pocketbook on agriculture, forestry and fisheries statistics.

France is the main producer of cereals in the EU28 with 285m tonnes or 24% of the total, Germany produced 16% (45.4m tonnes) and the UK contributed 19.5m tonnes or 7%. France was also the biggest producer of common wheat with 28% of total EU28 production, grain maize (26%) and barley (21%). Germany was the main rye and maslin producer with 43%.

The largest quantity of cow's milk was produced by Germany with 29.7m tonnes or 21% of total EU28 production then France with 24.4m tonnes or 17% and the UK with 13.6m tonnes or 10%. The UK was the biggest producer of drinking milk with 6.9m tonnes or 22% of EU28 production. Germany was the biggest producer of cheese (23%), cream (21%) and butter (23% in the EU28 with France following with 21%, 16% and 20% respectively.

UK Livestock Slaughter Statistics For May

The key points in Defra's latest information on slaughterings of cattle, sheep and pigs for May 2011 are that at 170,000 there was a 4% increase in the number of UK prime cattle slaughterings over May 2010. Beef and veal were 7% up on May 2010 with 74,000 tonnes. Sheep slaughterings were also 4% up on last year at 727,000 head. Mutton and lamb were 4% up with 17,000 tonnes. Pigs increased 3% to 718,000 tonnes compared to May 2010. Pigmeat production was 59,000 tonnes, an increase of 3% on May last year.

Quarterly World Merchandise Trade

There was a change of 27.2% in exports in world merchandise trade in the first quarter of 2010 and a change of 24.2% in imports according to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) quarterly world merchandise statistics recent release. It compares with 3.8% in imports and -0.9% in exports for Q4 2010 and -31% and -29.9% respectively for Q1 2009.

Wild Birds In Britain's Countryside

A recent statistical release from Defra provides the latest figures on the bird populations on farmland and woodland and all-native wild birds in the English Government Office Regions between 1994-2008.

The statistics say that between 1994-2008 farmland birds declined by 10% or more in five of the Government's Regions namely the South-West, South East, the East of England, the East Midlands and the West Midlands. The South East reported the largest decline of 23% below the 1994 baseline. The overall farmland birds indicator fell by 11% in that period. At the national level, there were declines of over 25% in Corn Bunting, Linnet, Grey Partridge, Yellow Wagtail, Starling and Turtle Dove and increases of over 25% in Jackdaw, Goldfinch, Tree Sparrow, Woodpigeon and Whitethroat.

The woodland bird indicator increased by more than 10% between 1994 and 2008 in four regions - the North West, the North East, Yorkshire and Humberside and the East Midlands. The indicator fell in two regions, the South East and the South West. The largest regional increase was in the North West at 43%. Yorkshire and Humberside came next with a 31% increase. The overall woodland bird indicator for England fell 6% over the same period. Nationally, there were declines of over 50% in Great Spotted Woodpecker, Goldcrest, Nuthatch, Chiffchaff and Green Woodpecker and increases of over 50% in Spotted Flycatcher, Wood Warbler and Willow Tit.

The all-native bird indicator for England increased by 3%. The all-native bird population indicator increased by 10% in three regions, Yorkshire and Humberside, the North East and the North West. The biggest increase was in the North West with 26%.

The data for the Defra statistical reports were based on annual data from the British Trust for Ornithology's Breeding Bird Survey (BBS).

Fibre-Optic The Future Of OECD Broadband

The OECD has updated its broadband statistics of member states to June 2009. The number of broadband subscribers in the OECD in June 2009 was 271 million, up 10% from June 2008, and half of OECD countries have reached 25 subscriptions in a 100 people. Future growth in fast broadband is expected to come from fibre-optic networks.

In June 2009 the United States had the most broadband subscribers by millions in the world with over 81m, Japan came second with nearly 31m and Germany with 24m. These were followed by France and the UK with 18.7 and 17.7m respectively and then Korea with nearly 16m and Italy with nearly 12m.

Korea had the largest proportion of households with 94.3% having broadband access. Iceland had 83.2% and Denmark 74.1%. The United States proprtion of households with broadband access was 50.8% (2007), the UK had 61.5%, Japan 58.5%, Germany 54.9% and Italy 30.8%.

The price range of broadband monthly subscriptions was very wide in some countries and very narrow in others. In Turkey the price range was very wide. The range was from very low at $8.45 a month to quite high at $125.95 a month in US dollars PPP terms. The Slovak Republic's range was widest from a moderately low $15.6 a month to a very high $263.23 a month. Korea had a very narrow range of prices in the middle to low range from $33.97 to $43.03. The US range in price was from $14.99 a month to $139.95 a month. UK prices ranged from $17.81 to $55.76, Japan prices range from $19.50 to $67.09 a month, Germany $23.02 to $75.15 and Italy from $11.39 to $45.43.

The average prices for low speed connections were lowest in Italy at $11.39 PPP and highest in Mexico at $57.79. The US average was $24.40, the UK $22.07, Japan $22.38 and Germany $36.96. The average monthly broadband subscription price was highest in the Slovak Republic at $78.86 PPP quite a long way ahead of Mexico in second at $59.52 and the lowest in Sweden at $29.22 ahead of Greece at £30.06.

PPP stands for Purchasing Power Parity which is a measure that gives currencies some equivalence for a meaningful comparison in terms of a parity of their purchasing power.

Inflation Down To Below 2% In June

The Consumer Price Index was down to 1.8% in the month of June from 2.2% in May. The RPI fell by 1.6% over the year. Food and beverages were again the main downward contribution as with 'factory gate' prices. Furniture and household equipment were also a factor. Recreation and culture contributed a large upward pressure. As an internationally comparative measure the CPI shows that UK inflation in May was 2.2%. The provisional figure for the EU as a whole was 0.7%. The statistics are from the ONS.

ONS And CBI See Fall In Business Services Output

Services output seasonally adjusted chained volume of gross value added index fell by 1.2% quarter-on-quarter to 113.3 and follows a fall of 1.3% on the previous three months according to Office for National Statistics latest Index of Services figures. The most significant fall in both quarter-on-quarter and in month-on-month figures was in business services and finance. Distribution fell 0.2% in the quarter to March compared to the quarter to December. It is the 9th consecutive monthly fall, driven mainly by wholesale, motor trades also decreased and retail increased. Hotels and restaurants fell by 5.1% over same period. There were also significant decreases in bars and restaurants. Transport, storage and communications fell by 2.3%. Business services and finance fell 2.2% to 121.7 in the quarter to March on the quarter to December and fell 0.4% between February and March. Government services increased by 0.7% in the quarter to March with the most significant increases in health and social work.

The Confederation of British Industry released its quarterly Services Sector Survey results today. It shows the service sector is still is deep recession. There are some signs of confidence returning. Consumer services fell at their fastest rate since November 2001. The rise in prices made the fall in business values look less marked. Business and professional services values fell faster than volumes due to record deflation in prices. Rates of decline are expected to slow down in both consumer services and business and professional services over the next three months. Employment is continuing to fall in both sectors. Profitability also fell but at a slower rate than the record falls of the previous quarter. Business and professional services show a similar pattern. A steep downward trend continues in telecomms and computing and transport of goods and post. Marketing services also show a continued downward trend in business values and volumes but much less marked. Confidence and profitability have both fallen. There are some signs that the decline is begining to slow.