Victoria’s agriculture and food industries

Overview of Victoria’s agriculture

• Victoria’s gross value of agriculture production (GVAP) reached a new record high of $20.2 billion in 2021–22. This impressive growth was 15% or $2.7 billion on the previous year’s GVAP.
• In 2021–22, Victoria accounted for 23% of Australia’s GVAP, making Victoria Australia’s second largest agricultural producer after New South Wales (26%).
• In 2021–22, there were around 154,000 people employed in Victoria’s agriculture production and manufacturing sectors – 69,000 in primary production and 85,000 in food and beverage manufacturing. More than 75% of employment in agriculture production is in regional Victoria.
• There were 21,300 farm businesses in Victoria in 2021–22, managing around 11 million hectares or 50% of the state’s total land area.

The economic fact sheet below highlights Victoria’s recent performance in the agriculture sector, including trends in gross value of production, employment, farming businesses, and exports. Unless otherwise stated, the statistics and fast facts are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and ABARES.

• Victorian agricultural industry overview  (PDF - 228.4 KB)
• Victorian agricultural industry overview – accessible (WORD - 44.2 KB)
• Victorian agri–food employment fact sheet (PDF - 196.3 KB)
• Victorian agri–food employment fact sheet – accessible (WORD - 294.6 KB)

Victoria’s agriculture industry fast facts

• Victoria’s most valuable commodities in 2021–22 were grains ($4.18 billion), horticulture for human consumption ($3.93 billion), dairy ($3.02 billion), beef ($2.94 billion), and sheep meat ($2.16 billion).
• Of all the commodities, only hay and silage and pig meat experienced a decline in their GVAP.

The industry fast facts below supplement the Food and Fibre Economic Factsheet, providing timely and consistent statistics on the recent performance of Victorian agricultural industries.

• Beef industry (PDF - 159.8 KB)
  • Beef industry – accessible (WORD - 39.5 KB)
• Dairy industry (PDF - 169.0 KB)
  • Dairy industry – accessible (WORD - 39.9 KB)
• Grains industry (PDF - 184.5 KB)
  • Grains industry – accessible (WORD - 39.8 KB)
• Horticulture industry (PDF - 178.5 KB)
  • Horticulture industry – accessible  (WORD - 39.7 KB)
• Irrigated agriculture (PDF - 118.2 KB)
  • Irrigated agriculture industry – accessible (WORD - 39.5 KB)
• Nursery and floriculture (PDF - 104.4 KB)
  • Nursery and floriculture – accessible (WORD - 41.5 KB)
• Pig industry (PDF - 162.7 KB)
  • Pig industry – accessible (WORD - 39.6 KB)
• Poultry industry (PDF - 183.7 KB)
  • Poultry industry – accessible (WORD - 39.5 KB)
• Sheep industry (PDF - 398.9 KB)
  • Sheep industry – accessible (WORD - 39.4 KB)
• Wine industry (PDF - 181.2 KB)
  • Wine industry – accessible (WORD - 39.7 KB)
• Wool industry (PDF - 187.0 KB)
  • Wool industry – accessible (WORD - 39.3 KB)

Victoria’s food and fibre export performance

• Victoria’s food and fibre exports reached a record high, valued at $19.6 billion in 2022-23 – a 7% increase on the previous year.
• The 2022-23 results cemented Victoria’s position as Australia's largest food and fibre exporter by value, accounting for 24% of the national total.
• Victoria’s top five food and fibre exports were grain ($5.6 billion), meat ($4.5 billion), dairy ($2.5 billion), animal fibre ($2.3 billion) and horticulture ($1.6 billion).

The key markets were China ($4.7 billion), Japan ($1.7 billion), the USA ($1.6 billion), New Zealand ($1.1 billion) and Indonesia ($1 billion) were Victoria’s most valuable food and fibre markets in 2022-23, accounting for around 52 per cent of Victoria’s food and fibre exports.

Key highlights of Victoria’s food and fibre exports, including a downloadable summary, data tables, and an interactive dashboard, can be accessed on our Export page.

Farm-level economic performance data

For more information on farm-level economic performance data visit the Agriculture Victoria's website on Dairy Farm Monitor Project. and Livestock Farm Monitor Project.