Agriculture issues - OECD

Topics: Agriculture, Environment / Climate

Sources: OECD - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

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Agriculture issues - OECD

Agriculture News

13 May 2026

How do shocks affect the environmental performance of agriculture?

Agriculture is under increasing pressure to deliver more with fewer resources.

New OECD data show that in many countries, production is rising even as the use of key inputs such as land and fertilisers declines. But are these efficiency gains translating into better environmental performance?

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In focus

Between 1990 and 2023, total agricultural production in OECD countries increased by 33%, while agricultural land area decreased by almost 11%. This signals a decoupling of environmental performance from agricultural production. However, progress has been uneven across indicators.

Some environmental indicators have improved:

🟢Nutrient surpluses have fallen in many countries, meaning less excess nitrogen and phosphorus, where they can pollute water and soils
🟢Ammonia emissions have decreased, reducing a key source of air pollution and environmental pressure
🟢Greenhouse gas emissions per unit of production have declined, indicating lower emissions intensity

Yet these gains are not seen everywhere:

🟡Total agricultural greenhouse gas emissions remain broadly unchanged
🔴Farmland biodiversity, a key indicator of ecosystem health, continues to decline

The takeaway: Efficiency gains are real, but they are not yet delivering consistent environmental improvements across all indicators.

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The stat

Nitrogen and phosphorus balances reveal how much of these nutrients remain in agricultural systems after crops absorb what they need. When surpluses are high, excess nutrients can leak into soil, water and air, contributing to pollution.

Over time, the trend is positive:

Nitrogen levels fell until the late 2000s before rising again. More recently, a sharp drop appeared in 2022 and 2023.
Phosphorus surpluses have steadily declined.

This points to real progress, but also raises an important question: Do these changes reflect better management or short-term responses to external pressures?

Fertilisers illustrate this clearly. When prices rise sharply, farmers may reduce use, lowering nutrient surpluses. However, this often reflects short-term constraints rather than lasting improvements and can have knock-on effects for food security.

❯ Explore the data

Trends in Nitrogen balances across OECD countries Nitrogen, kilogrammes per hectare OECD Minimum OECD Median OECD Maximum Source: OECD Agri-environmental indicators: Nutrient balances.

“Achieving lasting improvements and minimising trade-offs between food production and the environment requires strong, coherent policy frameworks, supported by robust data”

-Francisco Pereira Fontes, Policy Analyst
OECD Trade and Agriculture Directorate

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