Note: Single-source report; awaiting corroboration.
Government support for agriculture remains substantial, averaging USD 842 billion annually across 54 countries in the OECD's latest monitoring (2022–2024). Nearly three-quarters of this support goes to individual farmers, mainly via market price support, direct payments, and tax concessions. In contrast, just 13.3% funds general services benefiting the sector—such as innovation, infrastructure, and biosecurity—while consumer support averages 12.5%.
The OECD report highlights that agriculture is both highly vulnerable to climate change and a significant contributor, responsible for around 20% of human-generated greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing these challenges requires public investment in research and development, biosecurity, infrastructure, and related services. However, such investments have declined relative to the sector’s size, reaching only 2.4% of agricultural production value in 2022–24, down from 4.7% two decades ago.
Public expenditures on innovation, a vital part of these investments, have decreased from 0.92% to 0.54% of sector output over the same period. The OECD Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation report offers transparency and comparative insights into agricultural policies across countries, supporting national and international discussions on policy objectives and impacts.