Agricultural land prices: huge variation across the EU

The price of arable land in every region of the Netherlands was above all other available national averages in the EU. However, among the EU regions for which data are available, the highest prices for arable land were in the Spanish region of Canary Islands (an average €120 477 per hectare in 2020).

Arable land was cheapest in Croatia, with a hectare costing an average €3 440 in 2020. At the regional level, a hectare of arable land cost least in the South-West region (Yugozapaden) of Bulgaria (an average €2 051).

This information comes from data recently published by Eurostat.

Source dataset: apri_lprc

The level of land prices depends on a number of factors, whether they be national (laws), regional (climate, proximity to networks) and localised productivity factors (soil quality, slope, drainage and so on) as well as the market forces of supply and demand (including the influence of foreign ownership rules).

In all EU regions for which data are available, buying arable land was more expensive than buying permanent grassland (as much as 20 times more expensive on the Greek islands of North Aegean (Voreio Aigaio) and in the Spanish region of Murcia). Likewise, buying irrigable arable land was more expensive than non-irrigable arable land in almost all regions (it was almost six times more expensive in the Spanish region of Murcia).

For more information:

• Eurostat dedicated section on agricultural statistics
• Eurostat database on agriculture statistics
• All publications on agriculture
• Agricultural land prices refer to the price of one hectare of free agricultural land during the reference period (a calendar year). Depending on the Member State, these prices can be collected from the owner of the agricultural land who is selling (selling prices) or from the physical person/legal person/legal entity who is purchasing the land for agricultural purposes (purchase prices).