According to the latest OECD monitoring report on agricultural subsidies, Agricultural Policies in OECD Countries at a Glance 2010, subsidies to OECD country farmers increased on average from 21% to 22% of their total receipts, with this increase moving from 22% to 24% in European Union countries. This marks the first such increase in five years. The change is thought to have been largely caused by falling commodity prices in 2009.

The report also concludes that “the most distortive forms of support still dominate” in most OECD countries.

Although the full report is not freely available (US$ 27 for the PDF and US$ 39 for the paper edition), a list of key conclusions and its first chapter, ‘Evaluation of Support and Policy Developments’, is free to download in a ‘highlights’ document. The complete report also includes a second chapter with country-specific information and a third chapter with summary tables of estimates of support for OECD countries.

For more information about the report and these downloads, see: http://www.oecd.org/document/47/0,3343,en_2649_33773_45538523_1_1_1_37401,00.html