Agriculture contributes just 2 percent of GDP, although about 24 percent of Liechtenstein's territory consists of arable land, with permanent highland pastures making up 16 percent, and forests and woodland occupying 35 percent of the land. Animal husbandry and dairy farming are among the principal agricultural activities. Livestock graze in the alpine meadows during the summer. The fertile soil of the Rhine valley is used mostly for market vegetable gardening. Local agriculture products include wheat, barley, corn, potatoes, and grapes. The principality imports food, and some of it is processed and reexported.
Before World War II, almost half of the working population was occupied in agriculture. This number has continually decreased, and in 2000, about 350 persons (or 1.7 percent of the workforce) are active in agriculture, fishing, forestry, and horticulture. Despite the decline in that number, yields have been significantly increasing due to scientific rationalization and intensive machine cultivation.