Japan sees largest-ever fall in number of independent farmers to 1.02 mil.
The number of self-employed farmworkers in Japan tumbled 25.1 percent in 2025 from five years ago to 1.02 million, marking the largest-ever decline, government data showed Friday, as the sector that is critical to food security continues its aging-driven decline, Kyodo reports.
The average age of so-called core agricultural workers fell to 67.6 from 67.8 in 2020, marking the first drop since 1995, reflecting the impact of retirements on the workforce, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
The total number of agricultural workers in the country fell by 342,000 from the previous survey. Comparable data became available in 1985.
The shrinking number of farmworkers in the latest census reflects the lack of people taking up the profession, especially young people, deepening concerns about an increase in abandoned agricultural land.
Soaring material costs also contributed to the decline in farmers, according to the ministry.
The number of farm business entities, including corporations, fell 23.0 percent to 828,000, dropping below the 1 million mark and marking the largest decline since comparative data became available in 2005.
Meanwhile, the number of cooperative business entities, excluding individual operators, increased 2.9 percent to 39,000.
Farmland consolidation continued, with cultivated area per business entity increasing 0.6 hectare to 3.7 hectares. For the first time, over half of the total cultivated area was operated by large-scale farm businesses that worked 20 hectares or more.
Forest land area decreased by 20,000 hectares to around 24.75 million hectares, with 71.2 percent of it owned privately.
Forests covered 66.3 percent of the total land area in Japan, down 0.1 percentage point, and the number of forestry business entities fell 32.9 percent to 23,000, according to the census.
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