PARIS, November 3, 2026: Agricultural support across 56 countries exceeded $950 billion in 2025, increasing by more than $121 billion, or nearly 15%, from 2023, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The increase came amid extreme weather, geopolitical tensions and disruptions to agricultural markets, while the OECD warned that many existing support policies impose costs on consumers and investment in long-term agricultural productivity remains insufficient.
The OECD’s Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation 2026, released on November 2, found that nearly half of agricultural support during 2023–2025 continued to take forms considered particularly likely to distort production and international trade. These include policies that influence domestic agricultural prices, subsidise specific inputs or link assistance to the quantities farmers produce.
The consequences extend beyond farmers. According to the OECD, agricultural support policies imposed an estimated net cost of $204 billion annually on consumers across the countries covered during 2023–2025, largely because measures keeping domestic agricultural prices above international levels increased costs for buyers.
The findings highlight a distinction between increasing financial support and improving long-term agricultural performance. While some measures provide immediate protection against market disruptions, the OECD argues that governments need to direct more resources towards research, infrastructure, innovation and preparing agriculture for future crises.
According to the official OECD report, total agricultural support averaged approximately $885 billion annually during 2023–2025 before reaching more than $950 billion in 2025. The latest assessment covers 38 OECD member countries, five European Union members outside the OECD and 13 emerging and developing economies.
The report includes Egypt and Peru for the first time, expanding its coverage to 56 countries. The figures therefore represent agricultural support across these economies rather than a complete accounting of government agricultural policies in every country worldwide.
There is also an important distinction between agricultural support and direct government expenditure. The OECD’s measure includes payments financed by taxpayers, public expenditure on agricultural services and the estimated value of policies that affect domestic prices relative to international reference prices.
For example, when government policies allow farmers to receive higher domestic prices for certain products than they would under comparable international market conditions, the resulting benefit is counted as market price support. Such assistance can raise farmers’ revenue without an equivalent direct payment from government budgets.
However, consumers may bear part of the cost through higher prices. Conversely, policies that keep domestic agricultural prices below international reference levels can benefit consumers while reducing the returns received by farmers.
The OECD found that total agricultural support increased from 17.6% of the value of production in 2023 to 19.1% in 2025. This reversed a long-term trend in which support had generally declined relative to the size of the agricultural sector.
The reasons for the recent increase differed between economies. In many emerging markets, higher support was driven mainly by policies keeping domestic agricultural prices above international levels. Across OECD member countries, the increase came predominantly through budgetary payments, including emergency assistance following natural disasters.
The OECD warned that policies influencing prices and production can affect which crops farmers grow, how much they produce and the resources they use. Although such measures may provide financial protection, they can also reduce the ability of agricultural markets to adjust when conditions change.
During 2023–2025, positive support benefiting individual agricultural producers averaged approximately $661 billion annually across the countries studied. This represented the largest component of the estimated $885 billion in average annual agricultural support.
However, policies in some countries worked in the opposite direction. Measures that kept domestic agricultural prices below international reference levels generated an estimated $151 billion annually in transfers away from farmers towards consumers, offsetting part of the positive support received by producers.
This distinction also affects the interpretation of the headline figure for 2025. The OECD’s estimate exceeding $950 billion measures positive agricultural support before deducting policies that reduce returns to farmers. After accounting for approximately $148 billion in negative market price support in 2025, its separate net Total Support Estimate stood at about $810 billion.
The two figures therefore describe different measures of agricultural support rather than conflicting estimates. The distinction also shows why the headline amount cannot be interpreted as direct financial assistance reaching every farmer.
The OECD identified a further gap between the scale of agricultural support and investment in services intended to improve the sector’s long-term performance.
Expenditure on general services benefiting agriculture averaged approximately $118 billion annually during 2023–2025. These services include infrastructure, agricultural research, innovation, inspection and other activities supporting the sector as a whole rather than providing payments to individual farmers.
Although expenditure on these services increased in absolute terms, it declined relative to the value of agricultural production. General services spending represented 2.4% of production value during 2023–2025, compared with 4.6% in 2000–2002.
Infrastructure accounted for approximately 47% of general services expenditure, or around $55 billion annually, with irrigation forming a major component. Agricultural knowledge and innovation systems received approximately $27 billion annually, representing about 23% of the total.
Investment in agricultural knowledge and innovation amounted to approximately 0.5% of production value during 2023–2025, compared with about 0.9% in 2000–2002.
The OECD considers this decline significant because improvements in agricultural productivity have slowed considerably over recent decades.
Globally, agricultural total factor productivity growth declined from an annual average of 1.8% during 1991–2000 to 0.8% during 2014–2023.
Total factor productivity measures how efficiently agriculture converts resources such as land, labour, machinery and other inputs into output. Slower growth means agricultural efficiency is improving more slowly, potentially making it harder to meet future food demand without using additional resources.
The OECD argues that stronger investment in research, innovation, infrastructure and risk management could help countries improve productivity while strengthening agriculture’s ability to withstand economic and environmental disruptions.
OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann emphasised the difference between increasing financial support and delivering better results.
“More support does not always mean better outcomes,” Cormann said in the OECD’s November 2 statement.
He warned that measures distorting agricultural markets were increasing costs for families and reducing efficiency, while calling for greater investment in innovation and infrastructure to help farmers improve productivity and prepare for future shocks.
The estimated consumer burden is another important part of the report’s findings.
According to the OECD, agricultural support policies imposed a net cost of approximately $204 billion annually on consumers across the countries covered during 2023–2025. This was equivalent to about 4.4% of consumer expenditure measured at primary agricultural product prices.
The estimate reflects the effects of price-related agricultural policies after accounting for relevant budgetary assistance to consumers. It does not represent an additional $204 billion collected directly by governments or an equivalent increase in retail grocery bills.
The findings show how policies intended to support agricultural producers can also affect food affordability, particularly when they keep domestic prices above international reference levels. The consequences vary considerably between countries and agricultural products.
Emerging economies are playing an increasingly important role in these support patterns. According to the OECD, they account for approximately 67% of agricultural production and 58% of agricultural support across the economies studied.
Many emerging economies rely more heavily on measures affecting domestic agricultural prices, while advanced economies generally make greater use of budgetary assistance. These differences influence how support is distributed between producers and consumers and how agricultural markets respond to changes in supply and demand.
The report also comes amid growing concerns about the agricultural sector’s exposure to interconnected risks.
Extreme weather, geopolitical tensions, fluctuations in fertiliser and energy costs and interruptions to international trade can affect agricultural production, transportation and food affordability simultaneously.
The OECD identified more than 30 emergency policy responses to extreme weather events and natural disasters during 2025–2026 across the countries examined.
While emergency assistance can provide relief following droughts, floods and other disruptions, the organisation warned that repeated reliance on short-term measures may leave agricultural systems insufficiently prepared for future crises.
The OECD recommends more predictable policies that help farmers anticipate and manage risks before they result in severe economic losses.
Its latest report contains more than 150 country-specific recommendations, including proposals to reduce reliance on support that unnecessarily distorts production and trade, strengthen risk management and increase investment in agricultural research, innovation and infrastructure.
The organisation also called for closer alignment between agricultural support and environmental objectives, along with stronger monitoring to assess whether policies deliver measurable improvements.
The findings were released on November 2, 2026, but the headline figure exceeding $950 billion refers to preliminary estimates of agricultural support in 2025. Similarly, the $118 billion in annual general services expenditure and the estimated $204 billion annual consumer cost refer to averages for 2023–2025, not newly committed expenditure or newly incurred costs for 2026.
The 2025 support estimates remain subject to revision. The report’s central finding is that agricultural support has increased substantially across the countries studied, while investment in services supporting long-term productivity and resilience has declined relative to the size of the sector.
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