Agricultural land in Malta is the most expensive in Europe
Eurostat data also shows that Malta registered one of the lowest rental prices
Malta has once again topped the list for the most expensive arable land in the European Union, according to the European Commission’s statistics office.
Data about 2024 prices published this week show that the average price of one hectare of arable land in the EU costs an estimated €15,224 - an increase of 6.1% compared with 2023.
Among countries with available data, the highest average price was in Malta (€201,263), followed by the Netherlands (€96,608) and Portugal (€76,556).
The lowest average arable land prices were recorded in Latvia (€4,825), Lithuania (€5,590) and Slovakia (€5,823).
The issue of a fair price for agricultural land took centre stage in recent years as farmers warned that fields were being sold off to the highest bidder as so-called ‘recreational land’.
The concern is that this not only further limits the land available for agricultural purposes, but in driving prices up, it becomes impossible for budding farmers to own their own land.
In 2022, agricultural land in Malta already cost 22 times as much as it did in the rest of the EU,
Meanwhile, Malta registered one of the lowest rental prices.
Renting one hectare of arable land was most expensive in the Netherlands, at an average of €941 a year, followed by Denmark (€580) and Greece (€509).
By contrast, land rental prices were lowest in Slovakia (€69), Croatia (€76) and Malta (€92).