State and trends of the agricultural sector: national and global dimension

Abstract

The state and trends of development of the agricultural sector of the Ukrainian economy in the context of world trends are determined. The study is based on the results of the analysis of individual indicators in the section "Agriculture and Rural Development" of the World Bank database for the period 1991-2019. The level and dynamics of the values of the following indicators are analyzed: the share of gross value added of the agricultural sector in the volume of gross domestic product of the country; specific share of employment in the agricultural sector of the total number of employees in the economy; the volume of agricultural land as a percentage of the total land area of the state; the volume of forested land as a percentage of the total land area; the share of plowed land (arable land) as a percentage of the total land area; the number of hectares of plowed land (arable land) per capita; the number of units of agricultural machinery (tractors) per 100 square kilometers of arable land; the number of kilograms of fertilizer consumed per hectare of arable land; grain yield (kilograms per hectare); indices of livestock, crop and food production; the share of the rural population in the total population; specific share of agricultural raw materials in total exports of goods and in total imports of goods. The indicators selected for analysis are divided into several groups: indicators for determining the place, role and scale of the agricultural sector in the country's economy; indicators for characterization of available land resources of the agricultural sector; indicators to reflect the level of development of applied technologies; indicators to reflect the performance and dynamics of the agricultural sector. For comparative analysis of indicators of the state and development of the agricultural sector of Ukraine's economy, the world average values of relevant indicators, indicators of individual European Union countries (Germany, France, Poland, Bulgaria) and some countries - former Soviet republics (Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan) were used. The dynamics of indicators of the agricultural sector in Ukraine is mainly in line with global trends. The specifics of the Ukrainian agricultural sector, compared to other countries in the period 2016-2019, are: a significant share of gross value added of the sector in the gross domestic product of the country (9.01%); quite a significant share of employees among those employed in the economy (14.48%); the share of agricultural land and the share of arable land in the total land area are almost the largest in Europe and the world (71.67% and 56.58%, respectively).