Public support for agriculture reached a record level at USD 851 billion per year in 2020-22 across the 54 countries monitored by the OECD. Of this amount, USD 518 billion was from budgetary support from taxpayers, while the remaining USD 333 billion were transferred by consumers through policies lifting domestic prices above those on international markets. Reforming support policies could help agriculture to be more sustainable, productive and resilient, while helping farmers’ livelihoods by providing for additional sources of revenues.
Subsidies and government support
Subsidies and government support can come in many forms, with different types prevalent in different sectors. While some types of support are relatively well understood, others are much more difficult to identify and measure. A common understanding of the nature and scale of subsidies across sectors is a critical first step in international co-operation to address concerns about the global level playing field.
Key messages
As more governments introduce measures to support domestic manufacturing, there is a risk that countries engage in a costly, wasteful and distortive subsidy race. Assessing the scope and scale of these government interventions is essential to inform policymaking but remains challenging due to the persistent lack of reliable and comparable data.
Firm-level data could offer an alternative to measure industrial subsidies, and ultimately improve their design. The OECD identifies the nature and scale of support in industrial sectors using an innovative approach based on firm-level data to measure the support that companies receive. This information is shining new light on the ways governments provide support to large industrial producers – from grants and corporate tax concessions, to below-market finance.
Well-designed subsidies and other government support can help ensure the health of fish stocks and ecosystems, increase fish stock productivity, and build resilience in the fisheries sector, while poorly targeted subsidies can encourage unsustainable fishing.
The OECD regularly monitors and analyses fisheries policies across countries using its Fisheries Support Estimate (FSE) database. The 2022 edition of the OECD Review of Fisheries also proposed a framework to identify the support measures presenting risks of encouraging unsustainable fishing, depending on the context in which they are granted and suggests better alternatives.
The latest OECD and IEA data show that the global fiscal cost of support measures for fossil fuels in 82 economies almost doubled to USD 1 481.3 billion in 2022, up from USD 769.5 billion in 2021, as governments instituted measures to offset exceptionally high energy prices, driven in part by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
The OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels measures the fiscal cost of support to fossil fuel production and consumption across 51 advanced and emerging economies. Data are updated annually and go back to 2010.
Context
Industrial subsidies and the level playing field
While subsidies can be helpful to address emergencies or market failures, they can also undermine fair competition and lead other countries to respond in kind, to the detriment of consumers, taxpayers and governments with fewer resources, and ultimately undermining public support for an integrated global economy.
State enterprises are both major providers and recipients of government support. Across the 14 major industrial sectors examined by the OECD, firms with more than 25% government ownership (direct or indirect) tend to receive relatively more support in the form of grants and below-market borrowings.
Assessing the scope and scale of government interventions in manufacturing is difficult due to the lack of reliable and comparable data. The OECD's firm-level data provides an alternative way measure the scope, scale and impact of industrial subsidies.
Government support to fisheries
Governments support their fisheries through a wide range of policies. This can include, for example, the management of fish stocks and regulation of fishing activities; income support for fishers; or subsidies to purchase or modernise vessels and gear. Support can contribute to over-fishing or illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing if it incentivizes fishing in contexts where sustainable management and enforcement are lacking. Governments are working towards better designing and targeting policies to support fishers’ livelihoods without encouragingunsustainable fishing.
The OECD Fisheries Support Estimate (FSE) measures fisheries support in a consistent and transparent way across 40 OECD countries and other large fishing economies, which together represented 90% of global capture fisheries production by volume in 2018-20. The FSE and associated analytical work enables evaluation of the impacts of fisheries support policies on fish stocks and ecosystems.
Data are updated biennially and go back to 2009.
Support to fossil fuels
Given the existential threat of climate change, governments have an opportunity to accelerate investment in sustainable energy and the creation of green jobs, and meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Yet the fiscal cost of support to fossil fuels continues to increase. While much recent support reflects governments’ efforts to offset high energy prices, much of this support is not targeted at those most in need and risks both encouraging wasteful consumption while not effectively reaching low-income households. When prices remain high, governments should shift to more targeted measures, including through the increased use of income support.
The OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels measures the fiscal cost of support to fossil fuel production and consumption across 51 advanced and emerging economies. Data are updated annually and go back to 2010.
Government support to agriculture
The OECD monitors government support to agriculture across 54 countries, including all OECD and EU countries, plus 11 key emerging economies (Argentina, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Russian Federation, South Africa, Ukraine and Viet Nam). Measures of support include both budgetary transfers and the support effect of market access barriers. Data are updated annually and go back to 1986.
Most support is distributed within long-term policy frameworks. However, unforeseen events such as rapid food price inflation, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and the COVID-19 pandemic generated government responses that have boosted support in recent years. At present, support is at a historic high, 2.5 times what it was 20 years ago (in the context of an overall 3.6-fold increase in the value of agricultural production). The majority of agricultural support continues to focus on market price support (i.e. policies lifting prices received by farmers above those on world markets), among the most distorting forms of support, while support for general services to the sector (such as R&D or extension services) remains modest.
