In 2023, there were 115,655 (86.8%) male farm holders and 17,519 (13.2%) female farm holders.
Over the ten-year period from 2013 to 2023, there was an increase in the percentage of female farm holders. In 2023, the percentage of female farm holders was 13.2%, compared to 11.9% in 2013.
X-axis label | Female | Male |
---|---|---|
2013 | 11.9 | 88.1 |
2016 | 11.7 | 88.3 |
2020 | 13.4044743292579 | 86.6 |
2023 | 13.2 | 86.8 |
In 2023, the West region had the highest proportion of female farm holders (13.9%). The Midlands region had the lowest proportion with 11.6%.
The county with the highest proportion of male farm holders was Monaghan (89.8%), while Mayo reported the highest proportion of female farm holders (15.5%).
In general, larger farms were more likely to have a male holder, approximately 90% of the farm holders for farms larger than 50 ha were male.
17.4% of farm holders on farms less than 10 ha were female, compared to 13.2% for all farm sizes.
X-axis label | Female | Male |
---|---|---|
Less than 10ha | 17.4 | 82.6 |
10 - 20ha | 14.3 | 85.7 |
20 - 30ha | 12.2 | 87.8 |
30 - 50ha | 10.4 | 89.6 |
50 - 100ha | 9.1 | 90.9 |
100ha + | 10.7 | 89.3 |
Specialist Dairying farms had the highest proportion of male holders (92.8%) while Mixed Field Crops farms had the highest proportion of female farm holders (23.6%).
X-axis label | Female | Male |
---|---|---|
Mixed Field Crops | 22.9 | 77.1 |
Other | 18.9 | 81.1 |
Specialist Sheep | 17.8 | 82.2 |
Specialist Beef Production | 12.3 | 87.7 |
Specialist Tillage | 11.5 | 88.5 |
Mixed Grazing Livestock | 10.8 | 89.2 |
Mixed Crops and Livestock | 8.7 | 91.3 |
Specialist Dairying | 7.2 | 92.8 |
The average (mean) age of farm holders in 2023 was 59.4 years.
Just over 50 thousand, or more than one third (37.8%) of farm holders were aged 65 and over, while around six thousand, or less than one in twenty (4.3%) were aged under 35 years.
The number of farm holders in each of the age categories <35 years, 35-44 years, 45-54 years, and 55-64 has decreased over the period from 2013 to 2023. The number of holders aged <35 years decreased by 2,425 (-29.5%), the number aged 35-44 decreased by 7,897 (-34.6%), the number aged 45-54 decreased by 8,393 (-23.8%), while the number aged 55-64 fell by 393 (-1.1%).
Over this 10 year period between 2013 and 2023, the number of farm holders aged 65 and over has increased sharply from 37,705 to 50,392 (+33.6%).
X-axis label | <35 | 35 - 44 | 45 - 54 | 55 - 64 | 65+ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 5.9 | 16.4 | 25.3 | 25.5 | 27 |
2016 | 5.4 | 15.6 | 23.7 | 25.3 | 30 |
2020 | 6.9 | 13.8 | 21.9 | 24.6 | 32.7 |
2023 | 4.3 | 11.2 | 20.2 | 26.4 | 37.8 |
In general, farm holders were younger on larger farms than on smaller farms. The mean age of the holder on farms sized 30-50 ha, 50-100 ha and 100 ha was 59.0, 58.3 and 58.4 years respectively. Comparatively, the mean age of the holder on farms sized <10 ha, 10-20 ha and 20-30 ha was 59.7, 60.3 and 59.9 years respectively.
Holders were youngest on farms sized 50-100 ha, with a mean age of 58.3 years. The oldest holders were found on farms sized 10-20 ha with a mean age of 60.3 years.
X-axis label | Mean Age of Holder |
---|---|
Less than 10ha | 59.7 |
10 - 20ha | 60.3 |
20 - 30ha | 59.9 |
30 - 50ha | 59 |
50 - 100ha | 58.3 |
100ha + | 58.4 |
Farm holders were oldest on Mixed Field Crops farms and Specialist Beef Production farms with mean ages of 61.9 and 60.1 years respectively.
The lowest average age was recorded on Specialist Sheep farms with a mean age of 57.3 years.
X-axis label | Average Age of Holder |
---|---|
Specialist Tillage | 58.8 |
Specialist Dairying | 57.7 |
Specialist Beef Production | 60.1 |
Specialist Sheep | 57.3 |
Mixed Grazing Livestock | 58.6 |
Mixed Crops and Livestock | 59.5 |
Mixed Field Crops | 61.9 |
Other | 59.4 |
The number of male holders under 65 years has decreased by 18,701 (-20.4%) since 2013.
The number of male and female holders who are aged 65 or more has increased by 10,923 (+34.4%) and 1,764 (+29.5%) respectively.
In the same time period, the number of male holders ages less than 35 years has decreased by 2,496 (-32.8%) while the number of female holders in this category has increased by 71 (+11.9%).
X-axis label | Male | Female |
---|---|---|
<35 years | 5121 | 670 |
35 - 44 years | 13199 | 1741 |
45 - 54 years | 23782 | 3082 |
55 - 64 years | 30907 | 4280 |
65+ years | 42646 | 7746 |
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