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The average price of arable land per hectare rose by 11 percent in 2022, a similar rate as in previous years, thus crossing the HUF 2 million limit, according to recent data from Hungarian agricultural firm Agrotax Kft, reported Világgazdaság.
The average market price of arable land per hectare rose to HUF 2.33 million (EUR 6,125) in 2022, meaning a 11.1 percent rise. The average rent of arable land per hectare last year was HUF 86,564 (EUR 227.5). At the same time, the market turnover of arable land has fallen by 27 percent compared to the previous year, and the average size of land sold has also decreased by around 25 percent.
The highest average price of HUF 2.8 million (EUR 7,360) per hectare of arable land remained in Central Hungary, while the lowest price was in Northern Hungary, at HUF 1.683 million (EUR 4,420) per hectare. Last year, 68.2 percent of the transactions were for 14 thousand hectares of arable land. The second largest turnover, both in terms of size and number of transactions, was for forests, followed by grassland and pasture, then orchards and vineyards.
However, it was not arable land that increased in price the most. The average price per hectare of orchards was 53 percent more expensive than the previous year, reaching HUF 3.965 million (EUR 10,420) in 2022. The national average price per hectare of vineyards was also HUF 4.205 million (EUR 11,050), an increase of 68 percent compared to the previous year. For both orchards and vineyards, the most expensive prices were found in Central Hungary. For orchards, the price was HUF 8.5 million (EUR 22,340) per hectare, and for vineyards HUF 9.324 million (EUR 24,500), although the number of transactions was low.
Even though Hungarian soil is of good quality and arable lands are greatly sought after, the Hungarian prices are far from the average in the European Union.
Photo: Eurostat
According to Eurostat data, the price of one hectare arable land in 2020 ranged from an average of €3 661 in Croatia to €47 290 on average in Luxembourg, creating a huge gap between member states. The leader was the Netherlands where the average price of one hectare arable land was €71 225 in 2020. On this scale, Hungary was on the lower side, with 6th lowest average price of arable land per hectare.
In Hungary, great changes are coming in the agricultural sector. One is that the government will soon introduce a price cap on agricultural land from May, the Hungarian Chamber of Agriculture recently told Népszava. The Land Act was amended at the end of last year, stipulating that the sale price of land cannot exceed the normal and average local market value of the previous year by more than 10 percent.
Featured photo via Pixabay