Agriculture remains an important sector with the French economy, though it engages only about 4% with the labor force and contributes about 3% of the GDP. Because the early 1970s, the agricultural labor force has diminished by about 60%. France, whose farms export much more agricultural food merchandise than any other EU nation (accounting for 22% of the EU’s total agricultural output), may be the only country in Europe to become fully self-sufficient in fundamental food production; moreover, the top quality from the nation’s agricultural items contributes towards the excellence of its well-known cuisine. France is among the leaders in Europe inside the worth of agricultural exports?achiefly wheat, sugar, wine, and beef. Tropical commodities, cotton, tobacco, and vegetable oils are amongst the chief agricultural imports.
As of 1998 35% of France’s area was arable. About 11.eight million ha (29.1 million acres) of the usable farm place is beneath annual crops, with another 228,000 ha (563,000 acres) in permanent crops. There had been 735,000 farms in France in 1995, of which only 454,000 had been managed by full-time farmers.