Categorization of the EU Countries in the Context of Agricultural Production

Paper provides synthesis of knowledge and empirical research on selected determinants of agricultural production and verifies the applicability of the methods of hierarchical and non-hierarchical clustering in the agricultural sector. It identifies and categorizes the EU Member States in order to their clustering based on the similarity of common features in the context of direct (gross value added, support for agriculture, agriculturally utilized land) and indirect factors (employment, gross fixed capital) affecting the total agricultural production. The aim of the paper is creation of the economically meaningful groups of the EU countries that would confirm or reject the classification of old and new member states. The results of cluster analysis divided countries into three clusters, and confirmed that second cluster was represented by the new member states, and third by the old member states. Clusters were mutually different in the indicators of labour force in agriculture, support for agriculture, and agriculturally utilized land