The average annual income of farming households in Japan dropped 2.5 percent to 8.46 million yen in 1999 for the third consecutive year of decline, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Thursday.
Income earned by farming households from cultivating their own land dropped a sharp 8.4 percent to 1.14 million yen, while nonfarm sources of income such as salaries dropped 3.4 percent to 5.13 million yen, according to the ministry.
Incomes dropped across the board in all categories of farming, from rice cultivation to growing fruits and vegetables.
Pensions and income sources such as remittances from working children rose 3 percent to 2.19 million yen, reflecting the aging of the farming population.
Household expenditures dropped 1.5 percent to 5.54 million yen, while the balance of savings rose 3.4 percent to 30.87 million yen. Outstanding borrowing rose 5.1 percent to 3.43 million yen.
Farming households' average income exceeded that of salaried employees' households, which stood at 6.9 million yen.
The survey covered 2.48 million households with either 0.3 hectares of land or more under cultivation or at least 500,000 yen in annual income from sales of agricultural products.
Such households account for 76 percent of all farming households, according to the ministry.