Box 22A Data sources, availability and country groupings

This chapter has been prepared with data supplied mainly by Eurostat compiled from multiple sources. These sources include Eurostat databanks, FAO and UNECE data. Some examples have been drawn from national reports submitted to UNCED in 1992. Most data relate to the structure of production, the inputs to the land to maximise production and the resulting production itself. However, fewer data are available on the size and relative contribution to impacts on the environment of agricultural production and changes in agricultural systems. Details of the data can be found in the Statistical Compendium.

For EU and EFTA countries, plenty of data are available at national level on production, employment structure, fertiliser and pesticide use, farm sizes and livestock demographics. However, in other cases (for instance, irrigation, crop types grown) it is useful to consider geographical groupings of countries. Where possible, therefore, statistical data have been presented by specific country groupings based on physical and geographical regions relevant to important landuse characteristics. These are referred to as: Nordic, Eastern, Southern and Western regions. These should not be confused with the common political association of countries which these may imply. The precise countries included in these regions are as follows (see also Figure 5.3):