France agriculture employment: Metropolitan France
France agriculture employment: Metropolitan France stood at 305,449 persons in Q2 2026, according to INSEE – Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (BDM). It is one of the indicators in the Payroll employment table (Value · Quarterly), with a complete series running from Q4 2010 to Q2 2026. The complete series with an interactive chart, free to download.
This indicator in the Payroll employment table
| Indicator | Q2-2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4-2025 | Q3-2025 | Q2-2025 | Q1-2025 | Q4-2024 | Q3-2024 | Q2-2024 | Q1-2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | |||||||||||
| Metropolitan France | 305,449 | 313,944 | 319,154 | 303,051 | 315,088 | 316,122 | 314,906 | 319,496 | 310,835 | 314,559 | |
| Île-de-France | 5,647 | 5,718 | 5,721 | 5,536 | 5,621 | 5,570 | 5,631 | 5,543 | 5,506 | 5,552 |
Understanding france agriculture employment: Metropolitan France
Farming and primary sector wage earners attached to agricultural enterprises across Metropolitan France form the basis of this aggregate. The count captures dependent employees working in crop production, livestock, forestry, and fishing, while omitting independent farmers, self-employed operators, and workers in non-agricultural industries. Aggregating across the entire mainland territory, this measure provides a national view of salaried agricultural labor separate from regional breakdowns.
Interpreting this series requires accounting for heavy seasonal variations driven by planting, harvesting, and livestock cycles that create predictable intra-year peaks and troughs. Initial estimates are frequently adjusted as agricultural enterprises complete late social security filings, making multi-period revisions a standard feature of the data. Year-on-year comparisons offer a more stable gauge of structural changes than consecutive quarter comparisons, which are heavily distorted by harvest timing. Cross-checking this series with total workforce figures highlights the distinct cyclical nature of farming labor.
Frequently asked questions
- Does this series include self-employed farmers owning their land?
- Only salaried employees on agricultural payrolls are counted; independent farm owners are excluded.
- Why do agricultural employment numbers fluctuate so much within a year?
- Seasonal farming demands, such as harvesting and planting periods, cause recurring workforce changes.
- Should analysts trust the very first estimate published for a quarter?
- Early numbers are provisional and subject to revision as late employer declarations are processed.