Government support for agriculture exceeded US$950 billion in 2025, nearly 15% above its 2023 level, according to a new OECD report released on November 2. The annual review covers 56 countries, including India, and adds Egypt and Peru to its assessment for the first time.
The organisation said governments were often responding to successive shocks with short-term measures rather than predictable policies that help farming systems withstand future disruption. Reuters reported that longer-term investment in productivity and resilience was not receiving enough of the growing support.
The report puts annual spending on services such as infrastructure, research and innovation at an average US$118 billion during 2023–25. That represented 2.4% of agricultural production value, down from 4.6% in 2000–02, even though spending had risen in absolute terms.
The OECD also estimated that global agricultural productivity growth slowed to 0.8% a year in 2014–23, from 1.8% in 1991–2000. It called for stronger investment in knowledge, infrastructure and risk management alongside better-targeted assistance.
Archive illustration: an old tractor in a field in Alberta, Canada, photographed on May 21, 2008. The image is not evidence of conditions measured in the OECD’s 2026 report. Photo: dave_7, “Tractor in a field” / Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0. Original photograph; no changes.
