"Agri-Food Industry Added Value Reaches 211 Trillion Won, Accounts for 8.9% of Total Industry"

2025 Second Half Agri-Food Statistics Development Forum

The added value of the agri-food industry, which includes related sectors such as processing, packaging, and distribution of agricultural products, as well as new industries like smart agriculture and the pet industry, has reached 211 trillion won. This accounts for 8.9% of the entire industry.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on December 17 at the Government Complex Sejong that it held the 2025 Second Half Agri-Food Statistics Development Forum to discuss methods for estimating the added value of the agri-food industry, including both agriculture and its upstream and downstream sectors.

Agriculture does not end at the stage of producing raw agricultural and livestock products; its added value continues through distribution, processing, dining, and the food industry. Recently, due to changing circumstances, added value is also being created in a wide range of upstream and downstream industries, such as smart agriculture, vertical farming, the pet industry, and various input industries including fertilizers, pesticides, and agricultural machinery.

Until now, the added value of agriculture was mainly calculated based on primary products such as rice, vegetables, fruits, and livestock, and was thought to account for only about 1% of all industries. However, according to this study, when including related industries such as processing, packaging, and distribution of agricultural products, as well as new industries like smart agriculture and the pet industry, the proportion rises to 8.9% of the total industry as of 2023, with the added value reaching 211 trillion won.

In this study, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs focused on supplementing the limitations of the standard industrial classification method for estimating the added value of the agri-food industry by actively utilizing the detailed special classifications for the agri-food industry and sales data from the agri-food industry survey that had been previously established. The research was conducted by matching the special classifications of the agri-food industry to the 2023 Input-Output Table published by the Bank of Korea in September, and by precisely reconstructing the agri-food industry to separately manage sub-sectors that are not classified in the Input-Output Table.

The Ministry expects that by matching these statistical classification standards and calculating the sales proportion of the agri-food industry, it can accurately reflect the scope of related agri-food industries, including processing, packaging, and distribution of agricultural products and input industries such as fertilizers and pesticides. This will also ensure the consistency and comparability of the estimation results.

Kim Jeongju, Director of Policy Planning at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "Through this forum, we have been able to further refine the estimation of the added value of the agri-food industry and create an opportunity to monitor trends in each sub-sector. Based on the economic contribution of the agri-food industry to the nation as a whole, we will continue to strengthen policy support to promote investment in related industries and foster convergence industries."