Evidence suggests agriculture is recession-proof

Agriculture is often regarded as being relatively recession-proof and figures just published have added further weight to the argument.

For the first time, the organisation behind BACS direct debit and direct credit payments has produced a breakdown of its payments over the past three years.

The figures show the volume of payments within the agricultural sector increased by 2% between August 2007 and August 2010, whereas many other sectors saw sharp falls.

The construction sector was hardest hit by the economic downturn, with the volume of BACS payments down by a quarter over the same period. The transport, storage and communications sector saw a 19% fall and manufacturing a 15% decline.

The only other sectors to show an upturn in payment volumes were mining and quarrying (up 8%), health and social work (7%) and education (3%).

BACS is a not-for-profit, membership based, industry body, which processed more than 5.6bn UK payments last year, worth £3.83tn. It is estimated that over 90% of the UK workforce is paid via BACS direct credit. The data includes monthly salaries and weekly wages.