Agriculture and the agri-food industrial chain in 2024 generated gross value added of more than NT$1.74 trillion (US$55.3 billion) with a workforce of about 2 million people, accounting for 6.8 percent of GDP, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said on Tuesday.
The gross value added of agriculture and the agri-food industrial chain increased by nearly 90 percent over the previous 15 years, with an additional workforce of 221,000 people, a growth of 12.5 percent over the period, it said.
Primary agricultural, forestry, fishing or livestock (primary AFFL) industries, food and beverage manufacturing, wholesale or retail industries, and the catering industry were all included as part of “agriculture and the agri-food industrial chain” for the calculation, the ministry said.
Photo: CNA
The value of the agriculture industry and agri-food industrial chain grew 89.1 percent from 2009 to 2024, it said.
The catering industry had the largest growth at 150 percent over the period, followed by food and beverage manufacturing at 110 percent, food and beverage wholesale at 92 percent, primary AFFL industries at 73 percent, and food and beverage retail at 38 percent, the ministry said.
In 2024, the agriculture and the agri-food industrial chain accounted for more than NT$1.74 trillion, or 6.8 percent of GDP by production approach, marking another record high after it surpassed NT$1.6 trillion in 2023, it said.
Of the 6.8 percent GDP by production approach, the catering industry accounted for the biggest portion at 2.2 percent, followed by primary AFFL industries at 1.5 percent, food and beverage retail at 1.4 percent, food and beverage manufacturing at 1 percent, and food and beverage wholesale at 0.8 percent, it added.
The workforce in the agriculture and the agri-food industrial chain in 2024 also hit a three-year high of about 2 million people, or 17.2 percent of the total national workforce, meaning that one in six were in agriculture and the agri-food industrial chain, the ministry said.
In terms of industries, the catering industry had the largest workforce at 830,000 people, or 7.1 percent of the national workforce, followed by primary AFFL industries at 490,000 (4.3 percent), food and beverage retail at 390,000 (3.4 percent), food and beverage manufacturing at 200,000 (1.7 percent), and food and beverage wholesale at 90,000 (0.7 percent), it said.
In other news, the Agricultural Finance Agency on Wednesday said its agricultural project loan program has benefited more than 1.39 million agricultural or fishery workers or businesses since it was launched in 1973, with its cumulative disbursement amounting to NT$828.3 billion at the end of November last year.
The program in 2024 disbursed NT$28.1 billion, which benefited more than 28,000 applicants, it said.
To encourage young people to engage in agriculture, the agency continued its loan programs by offering NT$5 million each to selected “top 100 young farmers” and NT$2 million to regular young farmers over a five-year period, the agency said.
The loan programs for young adults were launched in October 2011 and had disbursed NT$37.8 billion to benefit more than 26,000 applicants as of November last year.
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