The 43 972 agricultural enterprises (division 01 of NACE Rev.2) represented, in 2010, 3,8% of number of enterprises, 2,1% of persons employed and 1% of GVA of non financial sector. 
Low gross value added, high weight of subsidies, significant geographical spread and bigger survival rate of enterprises born two years before, when compared with non financial sector, are the most relevant characteristics of this activity.
According to the Agricultural Census 2009 (RA 09) data, agricultural enterprises generate around 91 thousand euros of standard output (SO) per holding, six times higher than the total of farms, cultivating an average of 63 hectares of utilized agricultural area (12 hectares considering the total of holdings). These enterprises reveal a productivity, measured by the relation between the standard output (SO) and the annual work unit (AWU), four times higher than the average holding surveyed. Note that in the case of agricultural companies, these indicators attain levels that are comparable with the holdings of countries with more competitive agriculture.
The type of farm of larger economic size enterprises is almost always related to animal production, specialized in grazing livestock or granivores.