Data from Eurostat shows that the average rental price for arable land in the Netherlands was 843 euros per hectare, compared to the EU average of 233 euros, followed by Denmark (€561 per hectare) and Greece (€486 per hectare). Rental prices were lowest in 2022 in Slovakia (€57 per hectare), Croatia (€74 per hectare), and Malta (€89 per hectare), while Latvia was slightly more expensive at €92 per hectare.
There were three EU countries with particularly strong regional differences in land prices for 1 hectare of arable land. In the Netherlands, prices ranged from €66,051 in Friesland to €150,644 in Flevoland, with the national average being €85,431 per hectare.
Arable land in Croatia was again the cheapest in the EU in 2022, with an average price of one hectare at €3,700, according to Eurostat data released this week. The cheapest regions to buy 1 hectare of arable land were Övre Norrland (average €2,041) and Mellersta Norrland (€2,437) in Sweden.
The average purchase price of one hectare of agricultural land in 2022 was more than 45 times higher than the average rental price. These prices ranged from a low of €3,700 in Croatia to an average of €233,230 in Malta. The amounts for Malta reflect the limited availability of agricultural land on islands and the pressure for alternative uses. This also applies to the Spanish Canary Islands and some Greek islands.