Different fields of land with the different crops on them seen from above

In 2023, the average price of 1 hectare of arable land in the EU was €11 791, while the average annual rental price of arable land and or permanent grassland stood at €173 per hectare. 

This information comes from data on agricultural land prices and rents published by Eurostat today.

Arable land prices highest in Malta

Among the 22 EU countries with available data, by far the highest average price for 1 hectare of arable land was recorded in Malta, at €283 039 per hectare. The next highest average price was in the Netherlands at €91 154 per hectare, and then in Luxembourg at €42 540 per hectare. 

By contrast, the lowest average prices were recorded in Croatia (€4 491 per hectare), Latvia (€4 591) and Slovakia (€5 189).

Average prices of arable land in the EU, 2023. Bar chart. See link to full dataset below.

Source dataset: apri_lprc

Land prices by region: strong variations

There were strong regional variations in land prices in the EU. Other than Malta, which is a single region at this level of detail, the highest average price for 1 hectare of arable land was recorded in Wien in Austria (€189 000), followed by Flevoland in the Netherlands (€178 093) and Canarias in Spain (€148 247).

The lowest prices were recorded in the Swedish regions of Övre Norrland (€1 951 per hectare) and Mellersta Norrland (€2 378) and the French region Franche-Comté (€ 2 580).

Rent prices lowest in Slovakia

Among the 21 EU countries with available data, the highest average annual rental price for arable land or permanent grassland was recorded in the Netherlands, at €914 per hectare. By contrast, land rental prices were lowest in Slovakia (€67 per hectare).  

Average rental prices of arable land and or permanent grassland in the EU, 2023. Bar chart. See link to full dataset below.

Source dataset: apri_lrnt

Regional rents: from €40 in Stredné Slovensko to €1 787 in Flevoland

Among the EU’s regions, renting 1 hectare of agricultural land in 2023 was most expensive in the Dutch region of Flevoland (€1 787 per hectare), Canarias in Spain (€1 164) and Noord-Brabant (€1 111) in the Netherlands.

By contrast, the Swedish regions of Övre Norrland and Mellersta Norrland had the lowest land rents (€24 per hectare in 2022), closely followed by Stredné Slovensko (€40 per hectare) and Východné Slovensko (€43 per hectare) in Slovakia.

For more information

Methodological notes

  • Agricultural land prices and rents refer to the average price or rent price of 1 hectare of agricultural land without buildings or plantations during the calendar year.
  • Eurostat has estimated the EU average land price and rent as weighted averages based solely on data from the 22 and 21 Member States, respectively, for which data are available. Weighting was based on land areas from the 2020 agricultural census.
  • The regional data presented in this news item refer to level 2 of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 2).

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