The economy of Cornwall in South West England is largely dependent upon agriculture, followed by tourism. Cornwall is one of the poorest areas in the United Kingdom with a GVA of 70.9% of the national average in 2015. It is one of four areas in the UK that qualified for poverty-related grants from the EU. Farming and food processing contributed £366 million to the county's economy in 2006, equal to 5.3% of Cornwall's total GVA. The agriculture industry in Cornwall employed 9,500 people (4.9% of all Cornish employees) as of 2011. 23,700 more (12.1% of all Cornish employees) were employed in the food industry in Cornwall. The Cornish economy also depends heavily on its successful tourist industry, which contributes 12% of Cornwall's GDP and supports about 1 in 5 jobs (19% in Kerrier, Restormel and Scilly, 24% in Penwith, 23% in North Cornwall, 22% in Carrick and 14% in Caradon). Tourism contributed £1.85 billion to the Cornish economy in 2011.
Statistics An updated (January 2013) overview of the Cornish economy can be found here.Cornwall's economy at a glance Year Regional Gross Value AddedComponents may not sum to totals due to rounding Agricultureincludes hunting and forestry Industryincludes energy and construction Servicesincludes financial intermediation services indirectly measured 1995 3,230 235 813 2,182 2000 4,245 198 1,021 3,027 2003 5,401 221 1,195 3,985
Tourism
Cornwall's unique culture, spectacular landscape and mild climate make it a popular tourist destination, despite being somewhat distant from the United Kingdom's main population centres. Surrounded by the Celtic Sea and the English Channel, Cornwall has miles of beaches and cliffs. Other tourist attractions include moorland, country gardens and wooded valleys, and tourism is a significant sector of the economy.
In 2003, five million tourists were visiting Cornwall each year, mostly drawn from within the UK, making up around a quarter of the economy. In particular, Newquay is a popular destination for surfers. In 2004 the Eden Project near St Austell was considered to be a major financial success, drawing one in eight of Cornwall's visitors,Scottish Executive, 2004. A literature review of the evidence base for culture, the arts and sport policy though in 2007 it lost its bid to receive an extra £50m lottery grant (for a major expansion) in a public vote. The Eden Trust revealed a trading loss of £1.3 million for 2012–13, on a turnover of £25.4 million. The Eden Project had posted a surplus of £136,000 for the previous year. In 2014, Eden's accounts showed a surplus of £2 million.
Visitors to Cornwall are served by Newquay Airport (at St Mawgan) and formerly by Plymouth City Airport, whilst private jets, charters and helicopters are also served by Perranporth airfield; night sleeper and daily rail services run between Cornwall, London and other regions of the UK.
The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape, which includes select mining landscapes across Cornwall and West Devon, has been a World Heritage Site since July 2006.
Spending by overseas tourists within Cornwall and Scilly brought £128 million to the area in 2013, while internal overnight trips to the area from other areas of the UK brought £1.15 billion and internal day visits brought £745 million. By 2013 two thirds (almost 250,000) of foreign visitors were from DACH countries, in part because of the great popularity of German-language telefilms based on the books of Rosamunde Pilcher. Most are filmed in Cornwall at locations such as Prideaux Place and Pencarrow.
Industry
Agriculture and food
The expansion of the railway system in the 19th century led to the export of vegetable products, including flowers, becoming a profitable business for Cornwall. The Rev. Canon Arthur Boscawen (1862–1939), rector of Ludgvan from 1893 to 1939, was instrumental in founding the Cornish anemone industry. He also introduced broccoli as a commercial crop from imported German seed.Dudgeon, Piers (1991) The English Vicarage Garden The wet climate and relatively poor soil of Cornwall make it unsuitable for growing many arable crops, but the conditions are ideal for growing the rich grass required for dairying, leading to the production of Cornwall's other famous export, clotted cream. Though it has declined significantly agriculture is still of economic importance.
Ginsters in Callington is a mass manufacturer of Cornish pasties. Dairy Crest has a large cheese factory at Davidstow and A. E. Rodda of Scorrier is a supplier of clotted cream. Furniss of Truro manufactures biscuits. There are many types of beer brewed in Cornwall, including Sharp's Brewery, Skinner's Brewery and St Austell Brewery. There is some small scale production of wine, mead and cider.
Before the 20th century farming on the Isles of Scilly had many difficulties, though the soil was, as reported by John Leland in the early 16th century very good for cereal growing. Because farmers in need of money often sold their corn to passing ships which led to famine such sales had to be prohibited by order. Another practice was burning the ore-weed (laminaria) to produce the alkali kelp which went on all summer. It was collected and burnt in large kilns for about five hours until it liquified when a group of men would turn it over with long-handled iron forks. Arthur Quiller-Couch described how the men would be surrounded by the young women and girls dancing in a chain. All this effort only earned each family a few pounds, not enough to keep them over the next winter.R. M. Lockley (1946) Islands round Britain. London: Collins; pp. 15–17 Flower farming was a profitable industry on the Isles of Scilly for most of the 20th century. In a 1987 study of the Scillonian economy, S. Neate found that many farms on the islands were struggling to remain profitable due to increasing costs and strong competition from overseas producers, with resulting diversification into tourism. Recent statistics suggest that agriculture on the islands now represents less than 2 percent of all employment.Gibson, F., My Scillionian Home... its past, its present, its future, St Ives, 1980Isles of Scilly Integrated Area Plan 2001–2004, Isles of Scilly Partnership 2001Neate, S., The role of tourism in sustaining farm structures and communities on the Isles of Scilly in M. Bouquet & M. Winter (eds.) Who From Their Labours Rest? Conflict and practice in rural tourism. Aldershot, 1987 Flower farming was also carried on in parts of west Cornwall but has declined due to increasing costs and strong competition from overseas producers.
From 1960 to 2018 Robin Hanbury-Tenison farmed over 2,000 acres of hill farm on Bodmin Moor with sheep and cattle, diversified with Angora goats, red deer and wild boar from Russia, and later farming energy from wind, solar, water and biomass. The farm has been farmed by Merlin Hanbury-Tenison since 2018 who aims for greater sustainability.The Cornish farm that plans to last 1,000 years; BBC; accessed 2025-08-03Cabilla
Pre-19th century agriculture The westerly situation and the granite upland areas resulted in mainly pastoral farming in most of Cornwall. A narrow belt of land along the south coast of Cornwall east of the River Fal however supported a more mixed type of agriculture. "With its mineral wealth and large fishing interests Cornwall was less absolutely dependent on its agriculture, and farming was frequently a part-time occupation and of second rank in the county." (Giles V. Harrison.)Harrison (1984), pp. 388–389 In south western counties the century following 1640 saw a development of specialisation in livestock farming which included livestock-rearing in north Devon and north Cornwall. Cornwall was less affected than other counties by developments such as changes in land tenure, crop and technical innovations and increasing commercialism. The south-western counties were progressive in the use of manures and burn beating (or devonshiring) to improve the soil of moorland, waste or fallow land. The introduction of new root crops and artificial grasses which occurred elsewhere in the late 17th century did not happen in Cornwall until the 18th century. This was for various reasons, including the county's geographical isolation and the lesser importance of agriculture in the economy. The innovations in root crops are found earliest in south-east Cornwall, e.g. at St Germans and Liskeard by 1715 and 1725 respectively.Thirsk, Joan (ed.) (1984) The Agrarian History of England and Wales; Vol. V: 1630-1750; I: Regional farming systems; ch. 11: The South-west, by Giles V. Harrison. Cambridge University Press; pp. 358, 360, 362, 363, 365
James Whetter has detected a shift from wheat to barley growing in the first half of the 17th century. By 1680–1700 there were probably 7 acres of barley to each 6 acres of wheat. This situation seems to have continued in the period 1700–1750 though barley growing may have increased in western districts. Oats was less important than wheat by 1750 and the small acreage of peas and beans appears to have declined. Crop rotations in Devon and Cornwall were simple and traditional. In 1667 Colepresse reported that in both counties a six-course rotation was used; in Cornwall two crops of wheat were followed by three of barley and one of oats or peas. There is other evidence to suggest that in parts of Cornwall a less arduous three or four course rotation was used, as at St Tudy and Lezant in the 1680s. Colepresse in the 1660s reported yields of wheat of 10–20 bushels per acre in Cornwall; and yields both of barley and oats of 10–15 bushels an acre in Cornwall (the yields for Devon were slightly higher).Harrison (1984), pp. 367–368 In years of a good harvest Cornish farmers were able to export grain along the coast. When the harvest failed as in 1727 and 1728 it was necessary for Cornwall to import grain.Harrison (1984), pp. 371–372 The cultivation of potatoes was much more common in the first half of the 18th century in Cornwall than it was in Devon at the same period. Hemp was grown in Cornwall in fishing districts to supply the fishermen. The production of flax in Cornwall declined in the half century before 1700.Harrison (1984), pp. 373–374 The effects of climate, soils and topography resulted in livestock-rearing being of greater agricultural importance than crops in the south-western counties as a whole and in Cornwall in particular. Cattle breeding was important in the interior of Cornwall and in north Devon. Much of the stock sold in the markets of east Cornwall was sold to graziers for fattening further east.Harrison (1984), p. 375 In the 1710s the farmers of St Germans summered their bullocks on the common moors of St Cleer and St Neot.Harrison (1984), p. 378 The growing of turnips provided winter fodder for sheep and led to an increase in flocks of sheep between 1700 and 1750. There was also greater importance of mutton rather than wool in the 2nd quarter of the 18th century.Harrison (1984), p. 381 Though less than in Devon cider production was a significant proportion of farm output in some districts such as the south east and the number of orchards increased in the latter half of the 17th century.Harrison (1984), p. 383 Cornwall had a larger acreage of hops than any other southwestern county. Hops were grown mainly in the south east of the county and particularly in the parishes of Goran, Mevagissey and St Michael Caerhays. In the 1720s the hop acreage in Cornwall was c. 140 acres.Harrison (1984), p. 385