Environmental Performance of Agriculture in OECD Countries 2026

2. Key trends in the environmental performance of agriculture in OECD Member countries

Between 1990 and 2023, total agricultural production in OECD Member countries increased by 33%. It was accompanied by improvements of certain agri-environmental indicators. Over this period, GHG emission intensity declined and nutrient use efficiency improved, signalling a relative decoupling of environmental effects from agricultural production. However, the data presented in this report suggest that the pace of improvement has slowed.

The trends examined in this section are based on data from the 2026 version of the OECD dashboard Measuring the Environmental Performance of Agriculture. The dashboard presents the evolution of key indicators in the agri-environmental indicators database for the ensemble of the OECD Member countries as well as in each individual country.

Natural resource and other input uses

Between 2013 and 2023, trends the use of key agricultural inputs (water, fertilisers and energy) in OECD Member countries decreased faster than agricultural production, suggest an overall pattern of decoupling. However, the degree of decoupling observed was not the same across inputs. In the case of nitrogen and phosphorus fertiliser use, the trend is indicative of absolute decoupling, with production increasing while input use decreased at an average rate of 0.24% and 0.53%, respectively, largely driven by decreases in fertiliser input use in 2021 and 2022. For on-farm energy consumption and water, the trends are indicative of relative decoupling between outputs and inputs (i.e. input growth slower than output growth). In the case of on-farm energy consumption, it remained relatively stable, increasing by an average 0.48% per year across OECD Member countries as a whole. Water abstraction also increased (0.32% per year), indicating rising pressures on water resources across OECD Member countries (Figure 2.1).

While trends in agricultural input use reflect shifts in production practices across OECD Member countries, changes in land use patterns provide further insight into how agricultural landscapes are evolving over time. Total agricultural land area in OECD Member countries decreased at an average rate of 0.29% between 2013 and 2023 (Figure 2.2), with annual average decreases observed for both cropland (-0.15%) and pasture land (‑0.34%).

Environmental impacts

Nutrient balances

Some environmental effects of agriculture stem from the status of input management and efficiency. While nutrients inputs can contribute to soil fertility when applied in the right quantities, persistent nutrient surpluses could indicate inefficiencies and environmental risks, such as the acidification of soils and eutrophication in water bodies. Figure 2.3 illustrates the evolution of nitrogen and phosphorus balances (kilogramme per hectare) in OECD countries since 1990.

Figure 2.3. Nutrient surpluses declined in most OECD Members, but at a slowing rate.

 

Note: The graph excludes Chile. The graph shows an overall decrease in the median nitrogen and phosphorus surplus per hectare in the OECD. The minimum values have remained relatively constant over time for both nitrogen and phosphorus, while maximum values have decreased for phosphorus.

Source: OECD agri-environmental indicators: Nutrient balances.

From 1990 to 2009, the nitrogen balance (Panel A) shows a marked decline in the maximum value observed across OECD Member countries. This decline is consistent with improvements in nutrient management or reduced fertiliser use across OECD Member countries with the highest nutrient balances. However, since 2010, the OECD maximum value for nitrogen balance showed an increasing trend and increasing above 200 kg/ha, reflecting a resurgence of nutrient surpluses in some OECD Member countries. Meanwhile, the median value remained relatively stable within the 45‑60 kg/ha range from 1990 to 2018 (with a dip in 2009). The value began decreasing slightly in 2019, and then showed marked decreases in 2022 and 2023, which likely reflect the response to shocks induced by high fertiliser prices in 2022. The minimum nitrogen balance per hectare, however, remained relatively stable and close to zero.

The phosphorus balance (Panel B) also displays a downward trend across several statistics. Between 1990 and 2023, the maximum value gradually decreased from 71.2 kg/ha to 44.8 kg/ha, with a large dip in 2008 and 2009. The median values gradually decreased over time and remained within a range of 2‑4 kg/ha since 2009. Meanwhile, the minimum values show that one or more countries faced a deficit in phosphorus throughout the period.

These trends in nitrogen and phosphorus surpluses across OECD Member countries reflect shifts in fertiliser use and environmental pressures, as well as ongoing efforts to improve nutrient use efficiency in agriculture. Optimising nutrient use is an important lever to improving agricultural sustainability. Higher efficiency levels indicate better nutrient management and reduced environmental impacts, while lower values highlight persistent challenges in minimising nutrient losses. The data show a steady increase in both nitrogen and phosphorous use efficiency but also reveal a certain margin for improvement (Figure 2.4).

Nitrogen use efficiency, measured as the ratio of outputs to inputs, has shown improvements over time, though fluctuations persist. The median efficiency has exceeded 0.6 in recent years, which is higher than the observed values in the 1990s. While this represents an improvement, it also implies that only about 60% of applied nitrogen is effectively converted into outputs. This suggests continuing challenges in reducing nutrient losses and optimising fertiliser use, with around 40% of nutrients lost to the environment through soil, water or air. In contrast, phosphorus use efficiency has exhibited a clearer upward trend since the early 2000s, reflecting overall improved nutrient management.

These trends underscore the progress achieved in nutrient use efficiency, while emphasising the need for further improvements to reduce nutrient losses and their environmental impact.

GHG and ammonia emissions

Agriculture remains a significant GHG-emitting sector due to its methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Figure 2.5 illustrates the trends in GHG emissions from agriculture in OECD Member countries. Since 1990, the overall level of GHG emissions remained relatively stable in absolute terms. An increase was observed between 2013 and 2018 (the observed peak), before gradually declining between 2019‑2023.

Between 2013 and 2023, aggregate GHG emissions declined by approximately 0.45%, but this figure hides two very different sub-periods. Between 2013 and 2018, emissions grew at an annual rate of 0.76%, before decreasing at an annual rate of 0.84% since. The recent decreases appear to be largely driven by reductions in nitrous oxide emissions, which fell by approximately 8% between 2019 and 2023, while methane emissions also decreased over the same period, but to a much lesser extent.

These trends reflect the ongoing influence of livestock production and fertiliser use on agricultural GHG emissions, with methane primarily linked to enteric fermentation and manure management, while nitrous oxide emissions are largely driven by nitrogen-based fertilisers and associated soil processes.

While the overall level of GHG emissions has remained stable over time, emission intensity of agriculture in the OECD has decreased. Figure 2.6 illustrates the evolution of GHG emissions intensity across OECD Member countries from 1990 to 2023, measured in kilograms of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) per unit of agricultural output (USD). Over this period, the OECD maximum emissions intensity steadily declined, decreasing from above 4 kg CO₂e/USD in 1990 to less than 2.6 kg CO₂e/USD, reflecting improvements in productivity and adoption of less GHG-emission intensive practices. The OECD median also declined by approximately 20%, from around 1.6 kg CO₂e/USD in the early 1990s to 1.25 kg CO₂e/USD in 2023. However, the rate of decline slowed over the recent period, from 1.2% per year in the 1990s to approximately 0.4% per year since the 2000s.

Despite these improvements, total emissions from the sector remained stable or increased slightly for most of the period. This suggests a situation of relative decoupling, where emissions grow at a slower rate than agricultural output. However, since 2018, emissions decreased alongside improvements in emission intensity. This suggests some degree of absolute decoupling — a reduction in total emissions — in recent years. Ensuring a continuing downward trend in the absolute level of GHG emissions, however, is likely to require more transformative changes, as efficiency gains alone have not been sufficient to compensate for the growth of agricultural production.

Most OECD Member countries have also reduced their agricultural ammonia emissions. Across the 34 countries that have reported data for the 2013‑2023 period, 24 recorded negative average growth rate in agricultural ammonia emissions for the reported years (Figure 2.7). This is important as manure from livestock production and the use of fertiliser can generate ammonia emissions that contribute to both air and water pollution.

Farmland biodiversity

The impact of agriculture on biodiversity remains an important challenge. This is reflected by farmland bird populations, which serve as a key indicator of ecosystem health in a subset of OECD Member countries.

Figure 2.8 illustrates the evolution of the farmland birds index across OECD Member countries. Of the 27 countries within OECD Member countries reporting that indicator, 22 experienced a decline in farmland bird populations between 2013 and 2023. This drop signals ongoing pressures from agricultural intensification, habitat loss, or land use changes. In contrast, five countries reported a positive trend, suggesting localised improvements in conservation efforts or habitat management. The overall pattern underscores the continued challenges in maintaining farmland biodiversity and the need for targeted agri-environmental policies to support bird populations. Further efforts are underway to complement this indicator with the monitoring of farmland habitat biodiversity, which could be used in countries that do not report this indicator.

The overall environmental performance of agriculture in OECD Member countries is a mix of progress and persistent challenges. While improvements in nutrient use efficiency and emissions intensity indicate advances in sustainable practices, stable overall GHG emissions and worsening biodiversity indicators in some countries remain pressing concerns. Trends in land use, input consumption, and air emissions highlight the complex interplay between agricultural production and environmental sustainability. The continued decline of farmland bird populations in some countries further underscores the need for targeted policies to mitigate biodiversity loss. Strengthening data-driven policy approaches will be essential to improve sustainable productivity growth, ensuring that future food systems are both resilient and sustainable.