ISTANBUL 

The number of self-employed farmworkers in Japan plummeted 25.1% in 2025 compared to the last five years, reaching 1.02 million -- the largest decline on record, according to government data released Friday.

The decline is part of a trend driven by an aging workforce in a sector vital to food security, Kyodo News reported Saturday.

The average age of core agricultural workers dropped slightly to 67.6 from 67.8 in 2020, the first decline since 1995, reflecting the effects of retirements, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries noted.

Overall, the number of agricultural workers decreased by 342,000 since the last survey, with comparable data dating to 1985.

The drop in farmworkers highlights the growing difficulty of attracting new workers to the profession, especially younger people, which has raised concerns about the increasing abandonment of agricultural land.

The number of farm business entities, including corporations, fell 23.0%, dropping below 1 million for the first time since comparable data was available in 2005.

On the other hand, the number of cooperative business entities, excluding individual operators, rose 2.9% to 39,000.

Farmland consolidation continued, with the average cultivated area per business increasing 0.6 hectares to 3.7 hectares (1.5 acres to 9.1 acres).

For the first time, over half of the cultivated area was operated by large-scale farm businesses that worked 20 hectares or more.