Estimating output value added from the world’s agrifood systemsAgrifood systems are an essential component of every economy on earth because they provide income, food, fibres, fuels and medicine, among other goods and services. Yet most official statistics are delimited by economic sectors, so existing data do not readily quantify the contribution of multisectoral agrifood systems to national economies or the world. A combination of official statistics and harmonized input-output table data is used to estimate the output value added accruing from agrifood systems between 1995 and 2019. Recent estimates of employment in agrifood systems are then incorporated to develop an indicator of value added per worker in agrifood systems. The results show that agrifood systems in 170 countries contributed nearly USD 13.1 trillion (in current prices) to global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, which represents 15.5 percent of total GDP. Primary production (agriculture, forestry, fishing) contributes only 26.1 percent (USD 3.4 trillion) of total agrifood system value added while the largest share (53.4 percent; USD 6.8 trillion) comes from wholesale and retail trade, followed far behind by manufacturing of agrifood products (food, beverages, wood, paper, etc.). Further, agrifood systems are increasingly diversified at higher national incomes. The share of value added from agrifood systems per capita excluding primary production follows the same well-known decline with GDP per capita as agriculture. |
Common terms and phrases
added from agrifood added per worker AFS coefficient AFS share agrifood products agrifood systems agrifood systems value attributable to agrifood country-years database disaggregate domestic and exports DOMESTIC Public Administration Econ Economic Activities estimated Estonia Fishing Food & Beverages food and beverage food service food systems Forestry Gambia GDP per capita global gross output harmonized Hotels and restaurants IMPORTS Agriculture ISIC Rev ISIC Revision Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Latvia leather and related Lithuania main aggregates Manufacture of food Manufacture of furniture Manufacture of machinery Manufacture of rubber Manufacture of textiles Manufacture of wearing Mining and quarrying Oceania partly AFS percent plastics products Manufacture primary production products Manufacture relative to gross rest of agrifood retail trade Saint Lucia share of agriculture Share of manufacture Slovakia systems value added Table B-3 Tajikistan Textiles and Wearing total value added trillion UNIDO data United Nations value added value chains wholesale and retail Wholly worker in agrifood