To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the total income generated by farming in England (a) in absolute terms expressed in pounds sterling and (b) as a percentage of gross domestic product in each of the last three years. (241482)

Latest estimates of Total Income from Farming for England for the last three years are shown as follows.

Total Income from Farming (TIFF) is income generated by production within the agriculture industry, including subsidies. It represents business profits plus remuneration for work done by owners and other unpaid workers.

Agriculture’s contribution to the economy is measured by its contribution to Gross Value Added. Gross Value Added differs from Total Income from Farming in that it excludes consumption of fixed capital, subsidies and taxes that are decoupled from production, compensation of employees, net rent and interest. The latest estimates of Gross Value Added for agriculture expressed as a percentage of Gross Value Added in England are shown as follows; an estimate for 2007 is not yet available.