How many farmers are there in the UK?
The agricultural workforce on UK commercial holdings was 446,000 people in June 2025, down 1.5% on the year, according to Defra's Agriculture in the United Kingdom 2025. Of these, about 289,000 were farmers, business partners, directors and spouses (145,000 full time and 144,000 part time), and 157,000 were regular employees, salaried managers and casual workers.
The figures come from the June surveys of agriculture in each UK country. Defra also publishes the agricultural workforce at 1 June dataset with a longer time series.
Part-time is defined differently in each nation, from under 39 hours a week in England and Wales to under 30 hours in Northern Ireland, so part-time counts are not fully like for like across the four nations.
When is the next figure out?
OSR does not run a fixed release calendar for letters: casework correspondence is published when a case concludes, often within days of a high-profile claim. The casework issues log is updated weekly, aiming for each Wednesday. The rolling regulatory work programme, which shows assessments and reviews in progress, is updated four times a year. During formal pre-election periods OSR can still intervene publicly, but only where a statement could significantly affect the debate presented to voters.
Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.
Where the figures come from
- UK Statistics Authority and Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR)Find UK Statistics Authority and OSR letters on how politicians and officials used statistics, search the casework log, and raise a concern yourself.
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This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about farming and food: all Farming and food questions.