Government support to agriculture reached USD 842 billion annually in 2021–23 across the 54 countries monitored by the OECD. Most support (USD 629 billion on average between 2021-23) is aimed at individual producers, with over half of the total (USD 334 billion) arising from Market Price Support (MPS) policies that lift domestic prices above world prices, and the remaining USD 295 billion in the form of budgetary support. Reforming these policies can enhance resilience, sustainability, and productivity while protecting farmers’ livelihoods.
Subsidies and government support
Government support policies, including subsidies, play a critical role in shaping economic, environmental, and social outcomes. These forms of support vary widely across sectors, from agriculture and industry to energy and fisheries. While some are transparent and measurable, others remain difficult to track. Building a common understanding of the scope and impact of subsidies is essential to promoting fair competition through international co-operation.
Key messages
Industrial subsidies are increasing as governments try to boost domestic manufacturing. But if these subsidies are not well-designed, they can distort global markets, lead to inefficient public spending, and spark harmful subsidy competition between countries.
One of the biggest challenges is measuring these subsidies, as comparable and reliable data are often lacking. To address this, the OECD uses detailed firm-level data to better understand how companies are supported through grants, tax breaks, and low-cost financing. This approach sheds new light on the real scale and impact of government support in industrial sectors.
When designed effectively, government support for fisheries can help maintain healthy fish stocks, boost productivity, and build resilience in the sector. However, poorly targeted subsidies risk encouraging overfishing and illegal fishing, thus damaging ecosystems.
The OECD monitors fisheries support across countries through its Fisheries Support Estimate (FSE) database and is strengthening efforts to combat illegal fishing through a new Recommendation on Eliminating Government Support to Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, adopted in April 2025.
According to the latest OECD and IEA data, the cost of global government support for fossil fuel production and consumption in 82 economies fell from USD 1.6 trillion in 2022 to USD 1.1 trillion in 2023, a drop of nearly one-third, as energy prices eased from record highs.
This decline was mainly due to lower fossil fuel prices, especially natural gas, which reduced the gap between market-based and subsidised consumer prices in some countries. However, many measures to support the production and consumption of fossil fuels remained in place and, in some cases, even increased, keeping the overall fiscal cost well above historical levels.
The OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels tracks these costs across 51 advanced and emerging economies, with data updated annually.
Context
Poorly targeted industrial subsidies can distort competition and erode global trust
While subsidies can play an important role in addressing emergencies or market failures, they may also undermine fair competition and prompt retaliatory actions from other countries. This can ultimately harm consumers, taxpayers, and governments with fewer resources, eroding public support for an integrated global economy.
State-owned enterprises are often both key providers and recipients of government support. OECD analysis across 15 major industrial sectors shows that firms with more than 25% government ownership, whether direct or indirect, tend to receive higher levels of support, particularly through grants and below-market borrowings.
Measuring the full scope and scale of government intervention in manufacturing remains a challenge, largely due to the limited availability of reliable, comparable data. To address this gap, the OECD uses firm-level data as an innovative approach to assess the extent and impact of industrial subsidies.
Better-targeted fisheries support can protect livelihoods without harming sustainability
Governments support their fisheries sectors through a wide range of policies. These may include the management of fish stocks, regulation of fishing activities, income support for fishers, or subsidies to purchase or modernise vessels and equipment. However, such support can contribute to over-fishing or illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, particularly when it incentivises fishing in contexts where sustainable management and enforcement. To address these risks, governments are increasingly working to better design and target fisheries support policies that protect fishers’ livelihoods without encouraging unsustainable practices.
The OECD Fisheries Support Estimate (FSE) provides a consistent and transparent measure of fisheries-related government support across 41 OECD countries and other major fishing economies. These countries together accounted for approximately 69% of global marine fishing production (by volume) between 2020 and 2022. The FSE and related analysis help assess the impact of fisheries support policies on fish stocks and ecosystems.
Data are updated every two years and are available from 2010 onwards.
Phasing out inefficient fossil fuel support is key to climate and energy goals
Given the existential threat of climate change, governments have a critical opportunity to accelerate investment in sustainable energy, support the creation of green jobs, and help achieve UN Sustainable Development Goal 7: access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.
However, the fiscal cost of fossil fuel support remains high compared to historical levels. While much of the recent support has aimed to offset high energy prices, it is often not well targeted, risking wasteful consumption and failing to effectively reach low-income households. When prices remain elevated, governments should act quickly to phase out inefficient fossil fuel support measures and redirect resources toward more targeted and equitable policies, such as income support.
The OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels tracks the fiscal cost of support for fossil fuel production and consumption across 51 advanced and emerging economies. Data are updated annually.
Agricultural support is at record highs, but remains heavily focused on market price interventions
The OECD monitors government support to agriculture across 54 countries, including all OECD and EU members, as well as 11 key emerging economies: Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Ukraine, and Viet Nam. Support measures include both budgetary transfers and the support effect of market access barriers. Data are updated annually and go back to 1986.
While most support is delivered through long-term policy frameworks, unforeseen events such as rapid food price inflation, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to increased government interventions. As a result, agricultural support has reached a historic high, now standing at 2.5 times its level 20 years ago, in the context of a 3.6-fold rise in agricultural production value.
The majority of this support continues to be provided through market price support—that is, policies that raise the prices received by farmers above international market levels. These are among the most trade-distorting forms of support, while funding for general services to the sector, such as research and extension services, remains relatively modest.
