Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union
1.2. Contact organisation unit
E1: Agriculture and fisheries
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Rue Alcide de Gasperi 2920 Luxembourg LUXEMBOURG
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
18 June 2021
2.2. Metadata last posted
18 June 2021
2.3. Metadata last update
20 March 2023
3.1. Data description
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.
Land prices
Land rents
The agricultural land price statistics provide 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 agricultural land who is selling agricultural land for agricultural use (selling prices) or from the physical person/legal person/legal entity who is purchasing agricultural land for agricultural use (purchase prices).
The agricultural land rent represents the price of renting one hectare of agricultural land during the reference period (a calendar year). The renting price should be collected from the agricultural holdings renting the land for agricultural use (renting price paid).
3.2. Classification system
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).
3.3. Coverage - sector
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.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
Definition of the indicators
Land prices
Land rents
According to the market price concept, the price of agricultural land (arable land, permanent grassland) is the price received/paid by the holder in free trade without deduction of taxes or levies and without the inclusion of subsidies. In practice, this means the actual price agreed upon by the transactors. Any tax that the seller may have to subsequently pay as a result of selling the land, such as capital gains tax, is not deducted from the price.
The selling/purchase price of land should thus:
• exclude costs of transferring ownership (therefore lawyer's fees, registration taxes and real estate tax are not included in the land price);
• exclude deductible VAT;
• exclude the entitlements related to the land;
• exclude the value of any monetary compensation received by farmers for the sale/acquisition of the Utilized Agricultural Area (UAA);
• exclude the value of any building on the sold/purchased agricultural land;
• exclude inheritance transfers.
Rents correspond to payments made to the owner of land in return for his making assets available to another physical person/legal person/legal entity.
In practice, this means the actual rent price agreed upon by the transactors and to be paid by the user of land, including the value of related levies/taxes and including payments in kind (i.e. including contracts with partially or solely payment in kind) valuated at the current year price.
No distinction is made taking into consideration the duration of the renting contract/agreement and the time for contracting. Therefore, all rents for land (even if the land is rented for more than one year) should be taken into account for the calculation of average yearly rent.
The rental price of agricultural land should:
• exclude the entitlements related to the land;
• exclude deductible VAT;
• exclude the rentals of buildings or dwellings situated on it and any other expenses related to other assets except the agricultural land (current maintenance expenditure on buildings, buildings insurance, depreciation of buildings, rents paid for the professional use of nonresidential buildings etc.).
The categories of agricultural land are the following:
Land prices
Land rents
The agricultural land price statistics distinguish arable land and permanent grassland. However, Member States are not obliged to provide data for land categories below 5 % of the utilized agricultural land area, as in the latest Farm Structure Survey (FSS).
For those Member States where the FSS irrigable arable land area exceeds 15 % of the UAA and where the price of irrigable arable land is significantly (more than 50 %) higher than the price of non-irrigable arable land, the statistics should distinguish irrigable and non-irrigable arable land.
• Irrigable arable land – arable land area which could, if necessary, be irrigated in the reference year using the equipment and the quantity of water normally accessible;
• Non-irrigable arable land - arable land area which cannot be irrigated due to the lack of access to water for irrigation.
The agricultural rent prices are observed for arable land and permanent grassland. All the Member States should provide aggregated rent figures for the average price of arable land/permanent grassland. Where separate data are available for both types of land, those should also be reported.
The data with breakdown in price for irrigable and non-irrigable arable land are available for EL, ES, IT, RO and SK.
For the last year available, only RO has not provided the average price of arable land/permanent grassland.
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.
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).
3.5. Statistical unit
The statistical units are the following:
Land prices
Land rents
Reporting unit
A buyer or a seller of the agricultural land for agricultural use.
An agricultural holding renting the agricultural land.
Observation unit
One hectare of arable land sold/purchased for agricultural use.
One hectare of permanent grassland sold/purchased for agricultural use.
One hectare of agricultural land (both arable land and permanent grassland without distinction) rented for agricultural use.
Where separate data are available for both types of land, those should also be reported.
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.
Land prices
Land rents
Definition of the observation unit
• BG - Data are collected in decares and then recalculated in BGN per hectare. The information is available for three more land use categories and by land productivity categories. Moreover, the data are collected only for agricultural holdings that are legal persons
• EE - Data are collected also for the total utilised agricultural area.
• ES - Data are collected also for various crop types.
• HU - the calculation of the average price (purchase) and renting price also for vineyard, orchard and forest areas.
• FI - The information for permanent grassland that is below 5% of total UAA is not collected.
• FR - Data on land prices include only total of arable land and permanent meadows, the breakdown to the two land use categories is not available.
• EL: Cost indices for the factors of agricultural and livestock production are compiled annually, among others also rent remuneration index of utilized land (land rents), with base year 2010=100. The collected rental prices (mostly per 1 strema=0.1 Ha) for calculating the rent index are broken down by crop (cereals, maize, vegetables, cotton, tobacco, rice, alfalfa, sugarbeet, potatoes) with an area weighted coefficient for each crop based on the FSS.
• FR - Land rents data are compiled only at national level.
• AT - Data on rent prices as a part of the dataset of the national FADN data are extrapolated with the FADN weights. To meet the requirements for Eurostat the individual data from the national FADN data collection are taken and processed according to the provisions of the Eurostat target methodology taking into account the rented areas from the FSS.
• MT - one hectare of agricultural land rented for agricultural use
• SE - Two different type of data is collected, those including rents with entitlements and buildings and those that exclude them.
Definition of the reporting unit
• Agricultural holding: BG, EL, ES, LT, LU, PL
• Reporting units extracted from other sources as for example tax declarations, property registers, real estate agencies, regional agricultural services, agrarian unions, banks, local representations of other administrative bodies, notaries, IACS, etc.: BG, CZ, EE, IE, ES, FR, HR, IT, LV, HU, NL, PL, SI, SK, FI, SE.
• Agricultural holding: BG, EL, ES, LV LT, LU, MT, HU, PL, FI, SE
• Agricultural holding in FADN: CZ, IE, FR, NL, AT
• Reporting units extracted from other sources as for example property registers, real estate agencies, tax declarations, IACS, various agricultural services, etc.: BG, EE, ES, HR, IT, PL, SI, SK.
For detailed information concerning the type of reporting unit used to collect the information on land prices and rents see the national metadata files on the top of this page.
3.6. Statistical population
Field of observation
Land prices
Land rents
Includes
All arable land and/or permanent grassland sold (or purchased) for agricultural use
All arable land and permanent grassland rented for agricultural use.
Excludes
Transactions for non-agricultural purposes and transactions between relatives
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.
Land prices
Land rents
Physical, economical or other threshold(s) applied to the data collection on land prices and rents
No threshold(s) applied by the institution compiling the data in the following Member States: BG, EE, EL, ES, HR, HU
No threshold(s) applied by the institution compiling the data in the following Member States: BG, EE, EL, ES, FR, HR, AT
• CZ - Excluded are transactions of agricultural land below 1 ha.
• IE - Land sales under 100 euro per hectare are excluded.
• FR - The price calculation considers only land with more than 0,7 ha.
• IT - FADN thresholds: farms with a Standard Output of at least 4,000 euro in 2012, 8,000 euro in 2013.
• LV - Transactions of agricultural land below 0.1 ha are excluded.
• LT - Land transactions with an area of less than 1 ha and inadequate expensive parcels are excluded.
• LU - FADN thresholds.
• NL - Several criteria has to be met for the selection of the traded parcel (a buyer has a farm with grassland or arable land, transaction form: deed of purchase-sale, full ownership, no buildings, no regular lease or leasehold, no family relationship, parcel larger than 0.25 hectares and with purchase price greater than 1 euro.
• PL - Sample survey used for the data compilation covers approximately 2% of randomly selected farms keeping pigs with the area of agricultural land above 1 ha
• SI and SK - Only areas (parcels) of at least 1,000 m2 included.
• FI - Purchase area is at least 2 hectares and purchase price is between 1,000 and 26,000 euro.
• SE - Set of specific thresholds applies, e.g. included are only purchases with a total area of at least 2 hectares of land and a sales sum of less than 10 million SEK and/or purchases with the value according to the register of assessed values for real estates more than 1,000 SEK. Excluded are also cases where purchase price coefficient is less than 0.5 or greater than 6.
• CZ - FADN thresholds and coverage (11 out of 14 economic size classes are covered).
• LV - Agricultural holdings with crop Standard Output (SO) ≥ 1500 euro.
• LT - Parcels with an area of less than 1 ha are excluded.
• LU- FADN thresholds.
• MT - Agricultural holdings participating in the annual FADN survey.
• HU - Specific set of physical thresholds apply to the private agricultural holdings (the same as for the FSS 2016)
• NL - Included are all farms excluding horticultural farms, selection per agricultural tenancy type with surface area of at least 1 hectare and if the tenancy rate is at least 50 euros per hectare.
• PL - Same as for land prices.
• SI Only areas (parcels) of at least 1,000 m2 included
• SE - FSS thresholds plus holding declaring to rent the land in the last FSS.
• FI - The economic size of agricultural holding is more than 2,000 euro.
3.7. Reference area
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.
Area covered
Land prices
Land rents
Single-region countries
EE, LV, LT, LU
EE, LV, LT, LU, MT
Regional data
BG, CZ, DK, EL, ES, IE, HR, IT, HU, NL, PL, SI, SK, FI, RO, SE
BG, CZ, DK, EL, ES, IE, HR, IT, HU, NL, AT, PL, SI, SK, FI, RO, SE, NO
National level data
FR
FR
3.8. Coverage - Time
The current legal basis is the ESS Agreement on agricultural land prices and rents in force since 1st 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).
3.9. Base period
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.
Land prices
Land rents
The average price of the sold/purchased arable land (irrigable and non irrigable) and/or permanent grassland refers to the prices observed during a calendar year.
The average price for renting the arable land and permanent grassland refers to the amounts to be paid during a calendar year.
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.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
The EU agricultural land price and rent statistics are based on the ESS Agreement on agricultural land prices and rents, in force since 1st January 2019. 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.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not applicable.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
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.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Some countries provide confidential data. These data are removed from disseminated tables.
8.1. Release calendar
Agricultural land prices are released in December (t+1);
Agricultural land renting prices are released in March (t+2).
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.
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).
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Not applicable.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
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.
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.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
No quality review has been conducted on the process yet.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
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.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not applicable.
12.3. Completeness
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.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Not applicable.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
The agricultural land price and rent data are provided annually. The deadlines agreed for the transmission of data are following:
Land prices
Land rents
270 days after the end of the reference year
One year after the end of the reference year
14.2. Punctuality
Not applicable (statistics under gentleman's agreement).
15.1. Comparability - geographical
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.
15.2. Comparability - over time
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.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The cross-domain coherence of data is ensured by using the common statistical units, definitions and classifications with the other agricultural statistics.
15.4. Coherence - internal
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.
All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data.
Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated. Data may be published even if they are missing for certain countries or flagged as provisional or of low reliability. They are replaced with final data once transmitted and validated. Updates are conducted as soon as the data are received and validated, ensuring alignment with the latest reference period.
European aggregates are also updated for consistency with new countries data.
18.1. Source data
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.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
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.
18.3. Data collection
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.
18.4. Data validation
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.
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.
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.
Land prices
Land rents
The agricultural land price statistics provide 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 agricultural land who is selling agricultural land for agricultural use (selling prices) or from the physical person/legal person/legal entity who is purchasing agricultural land for agricultural use (purchase prices).
The agricultural land rent represents the price of renting one hectare of agricultural land during the reference period (a calendar year). The renting price should be collected from the agricultural holdings renting the land for agricultural use (renting price paid).
20 March 2023
Definition of the indicators
Land prices
Land rents
According to the market price concept, the price of agricultural land (arable land, permanent grassland) is the price received/paid by the holder in free trade without deduction of taxes or levies and without the inclusion of subsidies. In practice, this means the actual price agreed upon by the transactors. Any tax that the seller may have to subsequently pay as a result of selling the land, such as capital gains tax, is not deducted from the price.
The selling/purchase price of land should thus:
• exclude costs of transferring ownership (therefore lawyer's fees, registration taxes and real estate tax are not included in the land price);
• exclude deductible VAT;
• exclude the entitlements related to the land;
• exclude the value of any monetary compensation received by farmers for the sale/acquisition of the Utilized Agricultural Area (UAA);
• exclude the value of any building on the sold/purchased agricultural land;
• exclude inheritance transfers.
Rents correspond to payments made to the owner of land in return for his making assets available to another physical person/legal person/legal entity.
In practice, this means the actual rent price agreed upon by the transactors and to be paid by the user of land, including the value of related levies/taxes and including payments in kind (i.e. including contracts with partially or solely payment in kind) valuated at the current year price.
No distinction is made taking into consideration the duration of the renting contract/agreement and the time for contracting. Therefore, all rents for land (even if the land is rented for more than one year) should be taken into account for the calculation of average yearly rent.
The rental price of agricultural land should:
• exclude the entitlements related to the land;
• exclude deductible VAT;
• exclude the rentals of buildings or dwellings situated on it and any other expenses related to other assets except the agricultural land (current maintenance expenditure on buildings, buildings insurance, depreciation of buildings, rents paid for the professional use of nonresidential buildings etc.).
The categories of agricultural land are the following:
Land prices
Land rents
The agricultural land price statistics distinguish arable land and permanent grassland. However, Member States are not obliged to provide data for land categories below 5 % of the utilized agricultural land area, as in the latest Farm Structure Survey (FSS).
For those Member States where the FSS irrigable arable land area exceeds 15 % of the UAA and where the price of irrigable arable land is significantly (more than 50 %) higher than the price of non-irrigable arable land, the statistics should distinguish irrigable and non-irrigable arable land.
• Irrigable arable land – arable land area which could, if necessary, be irrigated in the reference year using the equipment and the quantity of water normally accessible;
• Non-irrigable arable land - arable land area which cannot be irrigated due to the lack of access to water for irrigation.
The agricultural rent prices are observed for arable land and permanent grassland. All the Member States should provide aggregated rent figures for the average price of arable land/permanent grassland. Where separate data are available for both types of land, those should also be reported.
The data with breakdown in price for irrigable and non-irrigable arable land are available for EL, ES, IT, RO and SK.
For the last year available, only RO has not provided the average price of arable land/permanent grassland.
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.
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:
Land prices
Land rents
Reporting unit
A buyer or a seller of the agricultural land for agricultural use.
An agricultural holding renting the agricultural land.
Observation unit
One hectare of arable land sold/purchased for agricultural use.
One hectare of permanent grassland sold/purchased for agricultural use.
One hectare of agricultural land (both arable land and permanent grassland without distinction) rented for agricultural use.
Where separate data are available for both types of land, those should also be reported.
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.
Land prices
Land rents
Definition of the observation unit
• BG - Data are collected in decares and then recalculated in BGN per hectare. The information is available for three more land use categories and by land productivity categories. Moreover, the data are collected only for agricultural holdings that are legal persons
• EE - Data are collected also for the total utilised agricultural area.
• ES - Data are collected also for various crop types.
• HU - the calculation of the average price (purchase) and renting price also for vineyard, orchard and forest areas.
• FI - The information for permanent grassland that is below 5% of total UAA is not collected.
• FR - Data on land prices include only total of arable land and permanent meadows, the breakdown to the two land use categories is not available.
• EL: Cost indices for the factors of agricultural and livestock production are compiled annually, among others also rent remuneration index of utilized land (land rents), with base year 2010=100. The collected rental prices (mostly per 1 strema=0.1 Ha) for calculating the rent index are broken down by crop (cereals, maize, vegetables, cotton, tobacco, rice, alfalfa, sugarbeet, potatoes) with an area weighted coefficient for each crop based on the FSS.
• FR - Land rents data are compiled only at national level.
• AT - Data on rent prices as a part of the dataset of the national FADN data are extrapolated with the FADN weights. To meet the requirements for Eurostat the individual data from the national FADN data collection are taken and processed according to the provisions of the Eurostat target methodology taking into account the rented areas from the FSS.
• MT - one hectare of agricultural land rented for agricultural use
• SE - Two different type of data is collected, those including rents with entitlements and buildings and those that exclude them.
Definition of the reporting unit
• Agricultural holding: BG, EL, ES, LT, LU, PL
• Reporting units extracted from other sources as for example tax declarations, property registers, real estate agencies, regional agricultural services, agrarian unions, banks, local representations of other administrative bodies, notaries, IACS, etc.: BG, CZ, EE, IE, ES, FR, HR, IT, LV, HU, NL, PL, SI, SK, FI, SE.
• Agricultural holding: BG, EL, ES, LV LT, LU, MT, HU, PL, FI, SE
• Agricultural holding in FADN: CZ, IE, FR, NL, AT
• Reporting units extracted from other sources as for example property registers, real estate agencies, tax declarations, IACS, various agricultural services, etc.: BG, EE, ES, HR, IT, PL, SI, SK.
For detailed information concerning the type of reporting unit used to collect the information on land prices and rents see the national metadata files on the top of this page.
Field of observation
Land prices
Land rents
Includes
All arable land and/or permanent grassland sold (or purchased) for agricultural use
All arable land and permanent grassland rented for agricultural use.
Excludes
Transactions for non-agricultural purposes and transactions between relatives
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.
Land prices
Land rents
Physical, economical or other threshold(s) applied to the data collection on land prices and rents
No threshold(s) applied by the institution compiling the data in the following Member States: BG, EE, EL, ES, HR, HU
No threshold(s) applied by the institution compiling the data in the following Member States: BG, EE, EL, ES, FR, HR, AT
• CZ - Excluded are transactions of agricultural land below 1 ha.
• IE - Land sales under 100 euro per hectare are excluded.
• FR - The price calculation considers only land with more than 0,7 ha.
• IT - FADN thresholds: farms with a Standard Output of at least 4,000 euro in 2012, 8,000 euro in 2013.
• LV - Transactions of agricultural land below 0.1 ha are excluded.
• LT - Land transactions with an area of less than 1 ha and inadequate expensive parcels are excluded.
• LU - FADN thresholds.
• NL - Several criteria has to be met for the selection of the traded parcel (a buyer has a farm with grassland or arable land, transaction form: deed of purchase-sale, full ownership, no buildings, no regular lease or leasehold, no family relationship, parcel larger than 0.25 hectares and with purchase price greater than 1 euro.
• PL - Sample survey used for the data compilation covers approximately 2% of randomly selected farms keeping pigs with the area of agricultural land above 1 ha
• SI and SK - Only areas (parcels) of at least 1,000 m2 included.
• FI - Purchase area is at least 2 hectares and purchase price is between 1,000 and 26,000 euro.
• SE - Set of specific thresholds applies, e.g. included are only purchases with a total area of at least 2 hectares of land and a sales sum of less than 10 million SEK and/or purchases with the value according to the register of assessed values for real estates more than 1,000 SEK. Excluded are also cases where purchase price coefficient is less than 0.5 or greater than 6.
• CZ - FADN thresholds and coverage (11 out of 14 economic size classes are covered).
• LV - Agricultural holdings with crop Standard Output (SO) ≥ 1500 euro.
• LT - Parcels with an area of less than 1 ha are excluded.
• LU- FADN thresholds.
• MT - Agricultural holdings participating in the annual FADN survey.
• HU - Specific set of physical thresholds apply to the private agricultural holdings (the same as for the FSS 2016)
• NL - Included are all farms excluding horticultural farms, selection per agricultural tenancy type with surface area of at least 1 hectare and if the tenancy rate is at least 50 euros per hectare.
• PL - Same as for land prices.
• SI Only areas (parcels) of at least 1,000 m2 included
• SE - FSS thresholds plus holding declaring to rent the land in the last FSS.
• FI - The economic size of agricultural holding is more than 2,000 euro.
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.
Area covered
Land prices
Land rents
Single-region countries
EE, LV, LT, LU
EE, LV, LT, LU, MT
Regional data
BG, CZ, DK, EL, ES, IE, HR, IT, HU, NL, PL, SI, SK, FI, RO, SE
BG, CZ, DK, EL, ES, IE, HR, IT, HU, NL, AT, PL, SI, SK, FI, RO, SE, NO
National level data
FR
FR
Land prices
Land rents
The average price of the sold/purchased arable land (irrigable and non irrigable) and/or permanent grassland refers to the prices observed during a calendar year.
The average price for renting the arable land and permanent grassland refers to the amounts to be paid during a calendar year.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The agricultural land price and rent data are provided annually. The deadlines agreed for the transmission of data are following:
Land prices
Land rents
270 days after the end of the reference year
One year after the end of the reference year
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.
