Recent information published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, shows Ireland sat fifth in terms of land values for arable land in the EU in 2016, while pastureland values were the sixth highest. The figures were published recently.

According to Eurostat, arable land in Ireland stood at €21,257/ha, or €8,600/ac. This is back over €3,200/ha, or €873/ac, from 2015 figures.

In terms of other countries, the Netherlands had by far the highest price for arable land, with figures showing an average of €62,972/ha, or €25,500/ac.

This is followed by Italy, where the average was a substantial €40,153/ha, or €16,250/ac; followed by Luxemburg on €26,030/ha (€10,500/ac) and the United Kingdom with an estimated €25,732/ha (€10,417/ac).

Countries in eastern Europe had the lowest arable land prices per hectare, with the seven cheapest countries all based here.

Arable land was cheapest in Romania, with a hectare costing an average €1,958, or €800/ac, in 2016. Estonia was second cheapest, with €2,735/ha, or €1,100/ac, followed by Croatia on €2,809/ha, or €1,140/ac. See table 1.

Regionally across Europe, and indeed within countries, land prices ranged dramatically, with the difference between top and bottom prices often extreme.

The most expensive price for arable land was in the Liguria region of Italy, with an average of over €108,000/ha, or €43,700/ac.

At regional level, a hectare of arable land cost least in the Yugozapaden region of Bulgaria, with an average price of €1,165/ha, or €470/ac.

Permanent pastureland

In terms of permanent pastureland, Ireland had the sixth highest prices per hectare, standing at €14,643/ha, or just under €6,000/ac.

Once again the Netherlands was the most expensive, with €53,630/ha, or €21,700/ac; followed by Luxemburg at €25,100/ha, or €10,150/ac; and Italy at €24,785/ha, or €10,000/ac. The UK and Slovenia were slightly higher than Ireland, at almost €18,600/ha and €15,427/ha respectively. Again, eastern European countries had the lowest land values, with Hungary €1,693/ha, or €685/ac; Croatia €1,674/ha, or €670/ac; Latvia €1,635/ha, or €660/ac; and Bulgaria the lowest on €1,386/ha, or €560/ac. See table 2 for details.

Breaking it down, the Noord Brabant region in the south of Netherlands had the highest price for permanent pastureland at €65,500/ha, or over €26,500/ac. Upper Norrland in the north of Sweden had the lowest pastureland price per hectare at under €500/ha, or €200/ac.

Data for Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, Malta, Austria and Portugal was not available for the price of arable or pastureland.

Rents in the EU

The data also focuses on rents within the EU. Again, the Netherlands topped the list with an average of almost €800/ha, or 320/ac, to rent land. Irish rent prices were fourth highest in the EU, with average rent prices standing at €291/ha, or €120/ac for 2016.

These figures quoted by Eurostat are far lower than the figures released by the Irish Farmers Journal land leasing prices last month, which revealed that the average cost of leasing land in Ireland had risen to €484/ha, or €196/ac.

The cheapest rent in the EU was seen in Latvia, with an average price of €46/ha, or almost €20/ac. Data for Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Malta, Portugal and Romania was not available for renting prices in the EU. See table 3 for details.

It is important to note that this rent refers to one-year agreements. The figures quoted by Eurostat are dependent on numerous factors, such as land quality, location, enterprise type, etc.

Similar to land prices, rents for arable land are higher than that of permanent pastureland. The information on rents was provided to Eurostat by Teagasc, the database confirmed to the Irish Country Living. In terms of Irish prices quoted by Eurostat, these were obtained from the CSO and make reference to the median price of land and not the average. The median price of land refers to the exact middle value of all land transactions.

The Irish Farmers Journal Land Report published in March 2018 identified that the average price of land in Ireland in 2017 stood at €22,500/ha, or just under €9,100/ac. CL