Basque agriculture has been limited by bioclimatic conditions and historical development. Both the oceanic climate of the coastal and northern areas, and the Mediterranean climate, characteristic of the Rioja Alavesa and of middle Navarra and the Ribera, have conditioned the types of agricultural production.
Although the economic weight of agriculture has been reduced throughout the 20th century, it was in the second half, during the period of economic expansion, when emigration from the countryside to urban areas was most intense. At the same time, the industrialization of the countryside increased. Throughout this process, Navarre differed from Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa and La Paz, although its agriculture maintained a certain economic weight.
Agricultural activities, especially livestock farming, also remained important in Iparralde during this period.
In the last quarter of the 20th century, although the active agricultural population decreased, the value of the final agricultural production for the four territories in the south of Euskal Herria was 143,000 million pesetas in 1990. Throughout the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, the value of the final agricultural production remained stable, with ups and downs.
In any case, the Basque agri-food balance remains in deficit, especially for Bikaia, Gipuzkoa and Alava.