Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E1: Agriculture and fisheries

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The agricultural land prices and rents methodology intends to collect comparable statistics on the prices and rents of agricultural land for agricultural use in the European Union, as land is a primary resource for agricultural production. The EU enlargements increased the need for data on agricultural land prices and rents. The main uses of these statistics are comparisons among the Member States and their regions and analyses of the trends in agricultural land prices and rents.

Classification of economic activities

For the compilation of the agricultural land prices and rents statistics, Eurostat's general classification of economic activities, NACE Rev. 2, is used. The list of activities which defines the agricultural industry corresponds to division 01 of that classification, i.e. Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities.

Territorial classification

The agricultural land prices and rents data are compiled by regions according to the NUTS classification, ideally at level 2. However, the data are available only at a higher level in some Member States (see 3.7).

The sector covered is the agriculture sector.

Thus, all units with an agricultural (primary or secondary) activity, regardless of whether the purpose of the units is commercial, are covered. Non-economic activity (kitchen gardening for own consumption only) is not covered.

The other sectors covered might include those activities involved in the land transactions for selling prices, such as notaries, public land management agencies, real estate companies, etc. For more detailed information see national metadata files on the top of the page.

Definition of the indicators

The categories of agricultural land are the following:

The categories of agricultural land are defined as follows:

•  Arable land - land worked (ploughed or tilled) regularly, generally under a system of crop rotation (as defined for the latest FSS).

•  Permanent grassland - land used permanently (for five years or more) to grow herbaceous forage crops, through cultivation (sown) or naturally (self-seeded) and which is not included in crop rotation.

The plantations of permanent crops are not included.

The rules governing the Farm Structure Surveys (FSS) are laid down in several Council Regulations and Commission Regulations and Decisions.

In the frame of data collection on land prices and rents the Member States follow the definition of indicators and land categories as provided in the common methodology, however several exceptions have been reported (see chapter 15.1 Comparability - geographical).

The statistical units are the following:

While the definition of the statistical unit (i.e. the observation unit) for the agricultural land prices and rents statistics has been provided in the common methodology (Chapters 2.1 and 3.1 respectively), the type of reporting unit, i.e. unit(s) from which the requested information is collected (an agricultural holding, an estate agency, an individual record in administrative register, a tax declaration, etc.) depends on the Member State data collection methodology.

In the table below the differences applied to the definition of observation unit as well as the various types of reporting unit as indicated by Member States are presented.

The prices of agricultural land can vary considerably within the Member States, depending on, among other things, the geographical situation of the agricultural land. The average price may exclude, depending on the Member State, a land parcel under a certain area threshold and/or the transactions under a certain amount, to cut-off the extreme prices. For more detailed information regarding the thresholds used by the Member States, please see table below.

Data are collected for the following EU Member States:

•   BG, BE (only land rents data), CZ, DK, EE, EL, ES, FR, HR, IE, IT, LV, LT, LU, MT (only land rents data), HU, NL, AT (only land rents data), PL, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE and NO (only land rents data).

 The sources of data used should enable information to be provided at least at NUTS 2 level.

The current legal basis is the ESS Agreement on agricultural land prices and rents in force since 1^st January 2019.

Most Member States have produced data on agricultural land prices and rents from 2011 onwards.

Data from agricultural land prices and rents according to the previous methodology are available in the public and free Eurostat dissemination database (Eurobase):

• Agricultural land renting prices for one year by region - historical data (until 2009) (apri_lrnt_h)
• Agricultural land prices by region - historical data (until 2009) (apri_lprc_h)

Not applicable.

Agricultural land prices are expressed in Euros per hectare.

The prices and rents expressed in national currency are converted into Euro by using the corresponding annual exchange rate, to allow comparisons among Member States.

Almost all Member States use the same reference period as specified in the common methodology, with the exception of France and Slovakia. France uses for the calculation of the rent prices for the year N of the land at the national level the rent index of the year N. However, it covers the period from September of the year N to the month August of the year N  + 1 (until the publication of the new index which takes place in July of each year). Slovakia uses a two-year reference period for the calculation of rent prices.

The EU agricultural land price and rent statistics are based on the ESS Agreement on agricultural land prices and rents, in force since 1^st January 2019. You can also find it here: ESS Agreement - Agriculture - Eurostat (europa.eu). It was signed by 18 Member States (BG, CZ, IE, EL, ES, FR, IT, LV, LT, LU, HU, MT, PL, RO, SI, SK, FI, SE) and UK.

Previously, and currently for those Member States not part of the Agreement, data are provided on a voluntary basis.

The national authorities of the Member States (National Statistical Offices and/or Ministries of Agriculture) are responsible for collecting absolute agricultural land prices and rents and calculating the corresponding average prices for their country.

All the questions related to EU agricultural land price and rent statistics are discussed by the Working Group on Agricultural Accounts and Prices (AAP), which normally meets once per year.

Not applicable.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

Some countries provide confidential data. These data are removed from disseminated tables.

Agricultural land prices are released in December (t+1)

Agricultural land renting prices are released in March (t+2)

The release calendar can be consulted in the Eurostat web page.

In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice, Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website (see item 10 - 'Accessibility and clarity') respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.

Annual.

News releases on-line.

Agricultural land prices and rents - statistics

Research Paper - Agricultural Land Prices and Rents data for the European Union, December 2016

Please consult free data on-line: Eurostat on line database (Eurobase)

The land prices and rents data can be consulted in the following data sets:

•   Land renting prices for one year by region (apri_ap_lmt)

•   Land prices by region (apri_ap_lprc)

•   Land renting prices for one year by region - historical data (until 2009) (apri_ap_lnrt_h)

•   Land prices by region - historical data (until 2009) (apri_ap_lprc_h)

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The latest version of the common methodology on agricultural land prices and rents was issued on 15 February 2017 and replaces the original version, established at the meeting of the Working Group on Agricultural Accounts and Prices on 1-2 December 2010 (Annex 1 of document ASA/AAP/133). A handbook on statistics of agricultural land prices and rents provides more practical information regarding data transmission and particular cases.

The national methods used for the compilation of agricultural land prices and rents statistics are available through the links provided on the top of this present file. The first harmonised national metadata collection has been undertaken in 2017 after the update of the common methodology and the Member States are encouraged to revise their metadata every five years.

Where the national metadata guaranteeing the methods used to compile the statistics are not available, the data are disseminated as estimates (flag 'E').

See Annexes. Common methodology on agricultural land prices and rents and Handbook on statistics of agricultural land prices and rents.

Not applicable.

The consistency of the agricultural land prices and rents data submitted by the Member States are checked by routine and Member States are asked for clarifications if needed.

No quality review has been conducted on the process yet.

The key users of statistics on agricultural land prices and rents, such as DG AGRI (Directorate-General of the European Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development), other European Commission services and National Accounts, need to follow developments in the land market and to evaluate the impact of policies on it.

Agricultural land prices and rents data are published every year in the Annual Report of DG AGRI and regularly by several Member States.

Not applicable.

Completeness is limited by the number of Member States who agree and can provide the agricultural land prices and rents statistics.

In the past, Eurostat had collected from the Member States data on prices and rents of agricultural land as key impact indicators needed for the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The lack of completeness and of common definitions made it clear that no comprehensive, EU-wide statistics on agricultural land prices and rents had ever been established.

The EU enlargements in the 2000s highlighted the issue, because very few new Member States were able to monitor land access by their farmers or to provide statistics on prices and rents. However, there were already deficiencies in the data of the other Member States.

The 2003 CAP reform introduced subsidies linked to the agricultural land itself (Single Farm Payment), which raised further the need for reliable and comparable prices on agricultural land. Eurostat developed a first version of the common methodology for data collection on agricultural land prices and rents and presented it in December 2008. After some additional work, a final version was established in December 2010.

The Member States generally agreed to begin producing data on agricultural land prices and rents in line with it, starting with reference year 2011. Concerns regarding the data collection, the level of aggregation and the availability of the first data collected based on the common methodology were taken into consideration as much as possible. Since then, most but not all Member States have provided Eurostat with data on agricultural land prices and rents, first for the “experimental” period of 2011-2016, before taking steps to move towards regular production in 2017.

For detailed overview of the data availability in the Member States see Chapter 3.8. Coverage - Time. 

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

The agricultural land price and rent data are provided annually. The deadlines agreed for the transmission of data are following:

Not applicable (statistics under gentleman's agreement).

Geographical comparability is the main objective of the statistics on agricultural land prices and rents.

The common methodology, supported by a harmonised description of the national methodology, is a step towards a consensus amongst the Member States.

However, some Member States cannot accept a statistical burden from the Commission out of any binding legal framework. Therefore no extension of the geographical coverage can be currently foreseen.

Based on the analysis of the information provided in national metadata files (see on the top of this page) the following observation can be made:

•  EL - The average rent prices do not include the price for permanent grassland as most of such areas is community based, often subject to subsidies, and as such the reliable rental prices on NUTS2 level can not be collected.

•  FR - No breakdown to arable land and permanent grassland for the land prices exist.

•  HR - Transactions with buildings on agricultural land that is subject of sale are excluded from data collection.

•  HU - The following definition of rented land area "...The rented area is an area cultivated as part of the holding for which natural persons belonging to the holding enter into a renting contract for at least l2 months and pay a fixed rent in cash or in kind. Land area used by farm workers as payment in kind is not included, unless it is cultivated in the holdings crop alternation system...", narrows the field of observation due to the exclusion of contracts with a term shorter than 12 months and land area used by farm workers as payment in kind, unless it is cultivated in the holdings crop alternation system.

•  IT - from 2016 onward, IT has a break of methodology used to check outliers both for land prices and rents

•  LT - The land rented from the relatives is excluded from the calculation of the average renting price

•  LV - The calculation of the average rental price of agricultural land also includes an oral type of rent agreements. On the other hand the land rented from close relatives is excluded.

•  LU -  The lawyer's fees are included in the land price as it is not possible to separate them from the actual land price in the rent price information provided to Eurostat. Moreover, the information collected covers only agricultural land purchased by book-keeping “commercial” farms and transactions between relatives are not excluded.

•  SI - The price of agricultural land sold in Slovenia includes tax on transactions of real estate (the tax rate of this tax is 2%) and personal income tax on capital gains from the disposal of real estate property. The latter is paid only in a special case, namely if the seller of the real estate sold the real estate that was gained after 1 January 2002 (this applies also for agricultural land). Depending on the length of the ownership of the real estate, this tax rate varies from 5% to 25%. Moreover, the observation of agricultural land rents is on the side of lessors instead of on the side of legal/natural persons renting the agricultural land.

•  SK - The observation of agricultural land rents is on the side of lessors instead of on the side of legal/natural persons renting the agricultural land.

•  SE - Arable land used permanently (for five year or more) for example forage crops is included in arable land.

Two time series are currently available in Eurobase.

Tables apri_ap_lrnt_h and apri_ap_lprc_h provide the data previously collected. Their comparability is limited but they cover 1985 to 2009.

Two tables, apri_ap_lprc for land prices  and apri_ap_lrnt for rents, provide the data meeting the requirements of the common methodology, as issued in 2017, with data from 2011 on.

Following the establishment of the EU common methodology in December 2010 the Member States generally agreed to produce data on agricultural land prices and rents in line with it, starting with reference year 2011. Compared to the previous period, the common methodology has introduced a common method for the regional data aggregation as well as a clear reference to FSS weights.

 For the detailed information on the national data availability see Chapter 3.8. Coverage - Time.

 Based on the information provided in the national metadata files (see on the top of this page) the following issues could affect the comparability over time directly in the Member States as well as among them:

•  CZ - Data comparable 2012 - 2016, 2011 data only for agricultural land in total.

•  EE - Until 2012, only legal persons covered, since 2013 administrative sources used, covering also natural persons.

•  IE - 2013-2016 data are comparable. 2011 and 2012 data are not available.

•  EL - 2011 - 2014 data cover whole country and weights from census 2009 were used. 2015 and 2016 data are broken down to irrigable and non-irrigable arable land and permanent grassland, cover NUTS2 regions and use weights from the FSS 2013. However, 2014 to 2011 data were later recalculated using the new 2015 land prices data.

•  HR - Data 2013-2015 revised following the new common methodology, revision planned also for 2016 data (based on the FSS 2016).

•  IT - Data on land prices and rents were until 2011 produced based on the information provided by local experts.

•  SI - 2013-2016 time series are fully comparable.

•  FI - 2014 - 2016 data are provided in line with the Eurostat methodology.

The cross-domain coherence of data is ensured by using the common statistical units, definitions and classifications with the other agricultural statistics.

The internal coherence of the data sets is guaranteed by a common set of validation rules and stable definitions of the variables/dimensions. The public description of the national methods contributes to improve coherence of the national statistics.

Not applicable.

Member States may revise the time series at the time of providing final information for a certain year.

Most of the countries use the latest FSS results to weight the statistics. For the FSS years, the Member States may provide first results based on the previous FSS data and revise them after having new data available.

When a collection is updated, it is also updated the other one in the online Eurostat database.

Bearing in mind the general objective established in the common methodology, the statistical data can be collected by means of:

• Direct observation of agricultural land prices and rents by category of agricultural land described in the common methodology. In this case, the reporting unit (e.g. agricultural holding, estate agency, etc.) is contacted directly and asked about prices of actual transactions related to the holding or about an average theoretical price/rent. The data can be collected through separate surveys or be integrated into the system of surveys which already exist (i.e. land use surveys, agricultural economic indicators, FSS etc.)
• Statistical data collection via a network of experts – "expert estimates". This practice could involve experts from the regional statistical offices, local representations of the ministries of agriculture, agents from the real estate agencies at the regional level, the agricultural advisory service, etc.
• Use of administrative data to obtain statistical information.

In some cases, Member States could combine one or both of the first two data collection methods mentioned above with the administrative data sources.

Based on the analyses of the national metadata files only 5 Member States (BG, EL, ES, PL and LT until 2015) used a direct observation to collect the land prices information while 9 Member States (BG, EL, ES, LV, HU, PL, FI, SE and LT until 2015) used this method for data collection on land rents. 5 Member States used the FADN for collection of rent prices data. It should be noted that some of the MSs use direct data collection as well as administrative data sources (among others for example ES and PL). The rest of the MS used a various administrative data sources, in particular tax records of tax authorities, records from real estate agencies, notarial records, various administrative registers, etc. For detailed information see the national metadata files on the top of this page.

Annual frequency of data collection for both, agricultural land prices and rents.

Almost all reporting Member States, with exception of SK and SE that indicated to use the two years periodicity, collect the land prices and rents information regularly, on annual basis.

The data are collected in line with Eurostat policies and procedures via eDamis webforms.

The national methods used to collect the data vary in countries depending on national practices.

Detailed information for each country on the collection method used can be found in the national metadata files on the top of this page.

Before each data dissemination, Eurostat checks the agricultural land price and rent data which it receives from the Member States. The data are checked based on validation rules for detection of outliers and coherence of aggregates. Any queries are dealt with on a bilateral basis with the competent experts in the Member States. The data which are not supported by valid metadata are flagged to indicate the lack of guarantees on their quality.

Eurostat policy on the management of errors in disseminated data.

Aggregation at country level

Agricultural land prices and rents at NUTS 0 and NUTS 1 levels are aggregated by calculating a weighted average using the regional (NUTS 2) average price and the information on area (NUTS 2) provided by the latest data from the FSS by category of land (arable land, permanent grassland). Agricultural land prices and rents for year n, n+1 and n+ 2 are weighted by the FSS data of year n.

Regarding the aggregation of data to country level, all Members States except Poland and Sweden (only for land prices) indicated that the method used is in line with that provided in the common methodology. For more detailed information see the national metadata files on the top of this page.

Conversion into Euro

The agricultural land price and rent data expressed in national currency are converted into Euro by Eurostat using the annual exchange rate of the corresponding year.

No adjustment is applied.

Not applicable.