Family Labor on Italian Farms Fell 75.3%, Istat Finds

Italian agriculture is relying less on family labor and more on hired workers and technology, according to a new statistical review by Istat that shows how the sector has become more professionalized, more market-oriented and more dependent on innovation.

The national statistics agency said in its focus report on the productive structure, management practices and workforce of agricultural businesses that Italy had 1,130,358 active farms in 2023. That was almost unchanged from 1,133,023 in 2020, but it was 30.3% lower than in 2010, continuing a long-term decline in the number of farms.

At the same time, the amount of land being farmed has also fallen. Istat said the country’s utilized agricultural area dropped to 12.3 million hectares in 2023, down 1.9% from 2020 and 4.4% from 2010. The workforce contracted even more sharply. Total agricultural labor fell 35.6% over that period to 2.49 million people, from 3.87 million in 2010.

The biggest change, according to the report, is in who is doing the work. Family labor, once central to the traditional image of Italian farming, has declined steeply. Between 2010 and 2023, the number of family workers dropped 75.3%. Their share of the total agricultural workforce fell from 33.9% to 13.0%.

Non-family workers now account for a much larger part of farm labor. In 2023 they represented 41.7% of the workforce, compared with 24.2% in 2010. Foreign workers also gained weight in the sector. Their share rose to 14.5% of all agricultural workers in 2023, up from 6.2% in 2010. The change was especially strong in northeastern Italy, where foreign workers accounted for 24.5% of the workforce, compared with 13.0% in 2010.

Istat also found that farm managers themselves now make up a larger share of total workers. In 2023, heads of agricultural businesses accounted for 45.3% of people working on farms, up from 41.9% in 2010.

Even as the number of farms has fallen, the average farm has become larger. Average utilized agricultural area per business rose from 7.9 hectares in 2010 to 10.9 hectares in 2023. The regional divide remains wide. The northwest had the largest average farm size at 15.9 hectares, while the south averaged 7.3 hectares. Istat said the smaller figure in the south also reflected limited growth over time, with average farm size increasing by only 2.2 hectares since 2010.

The report points to another structural change in how land is used. Farms that operate only on land they own are becoming less common. Their share fell from 73.3% to 48.8% over the period, showing a wider use of rented land and other tenure arrangements.

Production choices are shifting as well. Arable land increased its share of Italy’s utilized agricultural area, rising from 54.7% in 2010 to 57.1% in 2023. Meadows and pastures moved in the opposite direction, falling from 26.8% to 24.0%.

Crop diversification has grown modestly. Farms with more than three crops accounted for 17.9% of all businesses in 2023, compared with 16.2% in 2020. Istat’s figures suggest that more farms are combining several types of production rather than focusing on a narrower output mix.

The economic profile of farms has also changed. In 2023, 81.5% of agricultural businesses reported revenue from farming, related activities or subsidies, up from 73.9% in 2010. A smaller group has expanded beyond primary production. Istat said 6.0% of farms carried out at least one activity complementary to farming.

Among those additional activities, agritourism was the most profitable, according to 35.6% of the farms involved. The next largest source was contract work for other farms using the business’s own machinery and equipment, cited by 11.9%. Solar energy production followed at 9.0%.

Technology use has increased at a much faster pace than a decade ago, although adoption remains uneven across the country. Istat said computerized or digitized farms rose from 3.8% in 2010 to 18.5% in 2023. The north is far ahead of the south. In the northeast, 42.4% of farms were using digital tools, while the figure was 38.9% in the northwest. In southern Italy, the share was just 6.7%, pointing to a strong territorial gap in modernization.

The educational level of farm managers has improved at the same time. The share of business heads with a five-year high school diploma or a university degree rose from 24.0% in 2010 to 36.4% in 2023. Agricultural qualifications also became more common. Managers with formal studies in agriculture increased from 4.2% to 11.3%.

Still, several structural weaknesses remain. Younger leadership in agriculture is still limited. Farm managers under age 40 represented 7.9% of the total in 2023, slightly down from 8.4% in 2010. That suggests that generational turnover remains slow despite repeated efforts to attract younger people into farming.

Water use is another concern. Istat said the share of actually irrigated land compared with land that could potentially be irrigated fell from 64.5% to 61.3%. That decline came as the country’s total agricultural area continued to shrink, adding to pressure on a sector already dealing with labor changes, uneven modernization and regional imbalances.